stalker

See also: Stalker

English

Etymology

From Middle English stalkere, equivalent to stalk +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɔːkə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːkə(ɹ)
• Homophone: stocker (cot–caught merger)

Noun

stalker (plural stalkers)

1. A person who engages in stalking, i.e., quietly approaching animals to be hunted; a tracker or guide in hunting game.
2. A person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions.
   • 2009 April 22, Michael Cieply, “He’s Behind the Guffaws and the Gore”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     If the stalker thriller “Obsessed,” which opens on Friday, tops the box office, Clinton R. Culpepper will cement his reputation as Hollywood’s king of the schlockbuster.

   • 2018 April, Larry Zimmerman, “Cheap and Easily Manipulated Video”, in The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association‎^[2], Topeka, Kan.: Kansas Bar Association, →ISSN, page 21:

     Ordinary people have already been face-swapped into videos for humorous or prank purposes and there is no reason to believe that abusers, harassers, stalkers, and blackmailers will not soon be face-swapping victims into compromising video as part of their arsenal.

3. Any of various devices for removing the stalk from plants during harvesting.
4. Any bird that walks with a stalking motion.
5. (obsolete) A kind of fishing net.
6. (horse racing) A horse that tends to stay just behind the leaders in a race.
   • 2024, Jack Adler, Horse Racing: An Opinion: A New Way of Seeing the Sport of Kings:

     If the class of the field is a stalker, I'm all in in terms of evaluating his chances.

Synonyms

• (person who stalks game): tracker
• (person who secretly follows someone): prowler

Derived terms

• deer stalker

Translations

person who stalks game

• Czech: stopař (cs) m, stopařka (cs) f
• Finnish: vaanija (fi)
• French: traqueur (fr) m, traqueuse (fr) f
• German: Pirschjäger m, Pirschjägerin f
• Greek: κυνηγός (el) m or f (kynigós)
• Irish: stalcaire m
• Italian: cacciatore (it) m, cacciatrice (it) f
• Macedonian: ло́вец m (lóvec), ло́вџија m (lóvdžija)
• Polish: obserwator (pl) m (literally), obserwatorka (pl) f (literally)
• Portuguese: perseguidor (pt) m, perseguidora f
• Russian: ло́вчий (ru) m (lóvčij), следопы́т (ru) m (sledopýt), охо́тник (ru) m (oxótnik)
• Spanish: acechador (es) m, acechadora (es) f
• Tatar: эзәрләүче (ezärläwçe)

person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions

• Arabic: مُطَارِد m (muṭārid)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 潛行者 / 潜行者 (qiánxíngzhě), 跟蹤狂 / 跟踪狂 (zh) (gēnzōngkuáng)

• Dutch: stalker (nl) m
• Finnish: ahdistelija (fi), vainoaja (fi), piinaaja
• French: rôdeur (fr) m, rôdeuse (fr) f
• German: Stalker (de) m, Stalkerin (de) f, Nachsteller m, Nachstellerin (de) f, Verfolger (de) m, Verfolgerin (de) f
• Greek: κυνηγός (el) m or f (kynigós)
• Hebrew: מטריד כפייתי m
• Italian: stalker (it), molestatore (it) m, molestatrice f, vessatore (it) m, vessatrice f
• Japanese: ストーカー (ja) (sutōkā)
• Korean: 스토커 (seutokeo)
• Macedonian: прого́нувач m (progónuvač), прого́нител m (progónitel), де́мнач m (démnač)
• Norwegian: stalker
• Polish: prześladowca (pl) m, prześladowczyni f, stalker (pl) m, stalkerka (pl) f
• Portuguese: perseguidor (pt) m, perseguidora f, stalker m or f
• Russian: пресле́дователь (ru) m (preslédovatelʹ), пресле́довательница (ru) f (preslédovatelʹnica), ста́лкер (ru) m (stálker), сто́кер (ru) m (stóker)
• Slovak: prenasledovateľ m
• Spanish: acosador (es) m, acosadora (es) f
• Thai: สตอล์กเกอร์
• Turkish: takipçi (tr), önücü

Anagrams

• talkers, kartels, kestral

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from English stalker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈstalkɛr]
• Hyphenation: stal‧ker

Noun

stalker m anim

1. stalker (a person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions)

Declension

Declension of stalker (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	stalker	stalkerové, stalkeři
genitive	stalkera	stalkerů
dative	stalkerovi, stalkeru	stalkerům
accusative	stalkera	stalkery
vocative	stalkere	stalkerové, stalkeři
locative	stalkerovi, stalkeru	stalkerech
instrumental	stalkerem	stalkery

Further reading

• “stalker”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957 - not found
• “stalker”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989 - not found
• stalker in Internetová jazyková příručka, 2008–2022, Praha: Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR - found

Dutch

Etymology

From English stalker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɑl.kər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: stal‧ker

Noun

stalker m (plural stalkers, diminutive stalkertje n)

1. stalker (a person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions)

Related terms

• stalken
• stalking

Polish

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English stalker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstal.kɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alkɛr
• Syllabification: stal‧ker

Noun

stalker m pers (female equivalent stalkerka)

1. (crime) stalker (person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions)

Declension

Declension of stalker

	singular	plural
nominative	stalker	stalkerzy/stalkery (deprecative)
genitive	stalkera	stalkerów
dative	stalkerowi	stalkerom
accusative	stalkera	stalkerów
instrumental	stalkerem	stalkerami
locative	stalkerze	stalkerach
vocative	stalkerze	stalkerzy

Related terms

noun

• stalking

verb

• stalkować impf

Further reading

• stalker in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• stalker in Polish dictionaries at PWN