sponger

/ˈspʌndʒə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈspʌndʒər/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈspənjə(r)/ (ame, mw)

sponger — noun

  • spongersingular
  • spongersplural

1. someone who keeps taking money, meals, or other help from friends or family and

1.名詞C1
釋義

someone who keeps taking money, meals, or other help from friends or family and gives nothing back, so they can avoid working for themselves

例句

Reema finally told her brother to find a job and stop being such a sponger.

informal noun used to criticise a freeloading relative

Everyone at the shared house grew tired of the sponger who never paid for food.

describing a person who takes without contributing

同義詞
  • freeloader

    very close in meaning; slightly more common in American English

  • scrounger

    British and informal; stresses repeatedly asking others for things

  • parasite

    stronger and more insulting; pictures someone feeding off a host

反義詞
  • breadwinner

    someone who earns money to support others rather than taking from them

文法句型

a sponger off [someone]

用法筆記

Always disapproving. The person sponges off a specific giver (a parent, partner, friend, or the state), so the giver is usually named or clear from context.

常見錯誤

❌He is a sponger of his parents.
✅He is a sponger who lives off his parents.
💡the related verb takes 'sponge off someone', and the noun is normally followed by a clause, not 'of'.