1
: a person sentenced to imprisonment for life
2
: a person who makes a career of one of the armed forces
3
: a person who has made a lifelong commitment (as to a way of life)
Examples of lifer in a Sentence
He was a lifer at the factory.
Recent Examples on the Web
The first-gen social media lifers—I’m including myself in this—are going to have such bad PTSD from being so online for so long.
—
Jason Parham, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2024
Dennis Muilenburg, a Boeing lifer, was fired in 2020 while the company was trying to convince regulators to let Max jetliners resume flying after crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
—David Koenig, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2024
The Democratic nominee is the 61-year-old Suozzi, a Long Island lifer, former three-term congressman and polished political operator.
—Tim Balk, New York Daily News, 12 Feb. 2024
Luckily, the artist in residence is restless rock-and-roll lifer Kim Gordon, formerly of Sonic Youth and more recently of Glitterbust and Body/Head.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 5 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for lifer 
Jason Parham, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2024
Dennis Muilenburg, a Boeing lifer, was fired in 2020 while the company was trying to convince regulators to let Max jetliners resume flying after crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
—David Koenig, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2024
The Democratic nominee is the 61-year-old Suozzi, a Long Island lifer, former three-term congressman and polished political operator.
—Tim Balk, New York Daily News, 12 Feb. 2024
Luckily, the artist in residence is restless rock-and-roll lifer Kim Gordon, formerly of Sonic Youth and more recently of Glitterbust and Body/Head.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 5 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for lifer
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lifer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near lifer
Cite this Entry
“Lifer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lifer. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share