hacker
Americannoun
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a person or thing that hacks.
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Slang. a person who engages in an activity without talent or skill.
weekend hackers on the golf course.
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Computers.
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a person who has a high level of skill in computer technology or programming; a computer expert or enthusiast.
My brother is a real hacker—he fixed my laptop in no time.
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a person who circumvents security and breaks into a network, computer, file, etc., often, but not always, with malicious intent.
A hacker got into my computer remotely and wiped my hard drive!
The company has hired hackers to test system security.
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noun
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a person that hacks
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slang a computer fanatic, esp one who through a personal computer breaks into the computer system of a company, government, etc
Etymology
Origin of hacker
First recorded in 1200–50 hacker for def. 1; Middle English (as surname); hack 1, -er 1; 1965–70 hacker for def. 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The French finance ministry announced on February 18 that a hacker had gained access to a national bank database and consulted information on 1.2 million accounts.
From Barron's
One such report from last year acknowledged its AI technology had been "weaponised" by hackers who used it to conduct sophisticated cyber-attacks.
From BBC
Ms. Neuberger argues that the risk of hackers using AI to accelerate their attacks on our computer systems requires us to use AI to defend those systems, as manual human intervention is too slow.
Robert McMillan writes about computer security, hackers and privacy from The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau.
In the Colonial Pipeline attack, Russia-based hackers used a compromised password to gain access to the pipeline’s network, causing fuel shortages and panic buying at gasoline stations.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
