Hireling vs Underling - What's the difference?
hireling | underling | Related terms |
(usually, pejorative) an employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence
* 1848: William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair
(usually, pejorative) someone who does a job purely for money, rather than out of interest in the work itself
* 1605: Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning
Hireling is a related term of underling.
As nouns the difference between hireling and underling
is that hireling is (usually|pejorative) an employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence while underling is a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority.hireling
English
Noun
(en noun)- When my poor James was in the smallpox, did I allow any hireling to nurse him?
- ... it may be truly affirmed that no kind of men love business for itself but those that are learned; for other persons love it for profit, as a hireling that loves the work for the wages;