backers

noun

plural of backer
1
as in supporters
a person who actively supports or favors a cause backers of prison reform held a rally in front of the statehouse

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2
as in sponsors
a person who takes the responsibility for some other person or thing all financial backers will be expected to offer some input into the company's decisions

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3
as in allies
someone associated with another to give assistance or moral support the student's backers spoke at the school board meeting on her behalf

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of backers That’s a problem for backers of both measures, particularly months out from the election, according to IGS Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 15 Aug. 2026 Speed camera backers also dispute that these programs are intended to raise revenues. — Joel Rose, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026 OpenAI's financial backers were surprised by Dresser's announcement, according to two current investors, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely on the matter. — Ashley Capoot,kate Rooney, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2026 At present, Ukraine and its Western backers support an immediate cease-fire and subsequent peace talks, while Moscow, viewing military pressure on Kyiv as its most effective source of leverage, wants a political settlement before any cease-fire. — Matt Waldman, Foreign Affairs, 13 Aug. 2026 Others include Todd Boehly, Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, Magic Johnson and a handful of other backers with much smaller stakes. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 12 Aug. 2026 But some one-time backers have been infuriated by his support last month for a law that would prevent the arrest of ultra-Orthodox Jews for avoiding the military draft. — Reuters, NBC news, 7 Aug. 2026 Another judge dealt the backers of the measure a second loss by tentatively finding that their description of the measure, submitted for the official state voter’s guide, was misleading. — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026 Many also rely heavily on grants, making taxpayers their largest backers. — Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backers
  1. supporters
  2. sponsors
  3. allies
  4. proponents
  5. patrons
  6. advocates
Noun
  • As the court met Monday on Yabloko’s appeal, the party’s supporters gathered outside the courthouse and Russian media reported that several dozen people were detained.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026
  • That's where authorities broke up confrontations and made some arrests after supporters from both sides clashed.
    — J.D. Miles, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of supporters
Noun
  • Hence the switch, a year or so after the film’s release, to a stadium now named after the latest in a long line of sponsors that, for all the vital money brought in, have slightly eroded identity.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026
  • About 1,800 children were living in shelters and roughly 22,000 facing deportation were living with outside sponsors such as family members, according to the legal service providers whose contract expired.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of sponsors
Noun
  • And that doesn’t count other Navy demands on the carrier fleet, like exercises with allies or keeping a presence in the Indo-Pacific, Parker said.
    — Mustafa Qadri, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Russia accused of trying to undermine Ukraine's allies Russia has long been accused of targeting its enemies abroad, including by using rare poisons.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of allies
Noun
  • Andrew Sweetman, the Scottish marine biogeochemist who led the work, hadn’t made such claims, but he was still pilloried by fellow-scientists, and proponents of mining accused him of being an anti-mining crusader.
    — James Dinneen, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The proponents of those ideas believe that spreading them can shift the boundaries of debate — that nothing else will do so in a media environment where conservatives hold enormous power.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of proponents
Noun
  • Kulusich says she's witnessed other Disneyland patrons touch character actors or ask them inappropriate questions.
    — Owen Carry, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The Buñuelian skeptic in me also shirks at Fried’s approving references to Diderot’s petite église invisible, the small hidden church whose members—painters, critics, curators, patrons—are the vision-gifted serious pursuers of art history.
    — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of patrons
Noun
  • For advocates, the Pate case became another example of concerns that have been building for years.
    — Ginger Allen, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Parents and caregivers of intellectually disabled or non-speaking autistic people sometimes argue that neurodivergent self-advocates with low support needs can’t speak for those with disabilities that affect their daily lives in more profound ways.
    — Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of advocates

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Cite this Entry

“Backers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backers. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of backers for Spanish Speakers

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