hirelings
Workers for pay
Hirelings are people who work solely for pay, with no loyalty or personal investment in the work.
The term carries contempt—a hireling serves whoever pays, without principle or commitment: The king surrounded himself with hirelings and sycophants.
In fantasy gaming, hirelings are NPCs recruited to carry equipment or perform menial tasks for adventuring parties.
Lower-ranked employees
- minionsObedient subordinates of power
- lackeysServile attendants
- flunkiesSubservient assistants or followers
- henchmenLoyal subordinates to wrongdoers
retainers · attendants · servants · aides · assistants · lieutenants · deputies · factotums
Brief-term employees
- contractorsHired service providers
- freelancersSelf-employed contract workers
- casualsInformal everyday clothing
- fill-insTemporary substitute workers
stand-ins · stopgaps · substitutes · replacements · locums · floaters
Menial laborers with little status
- menialsLow-ranking domestic workers
- drudgesWorks tediously and hard
- laborersWorkers doing physical tasks
- toilersPeople who work strenuously
grunts · dogsbodies · skivvies · scullions · workhorses · serfs · coolies · navvies
Hired service providers
- sellswordsPaid combat fighters
- privateersLicensed wartime ship raiders
- freebootersMaritime raiders seeking plunder
- legionnairesMembers of a legion
auxiliaries · irregulars · bodyguards · enforcers · operatives · muscle · mercenaries · guards
Resources meant to sacrifice
- cannon-fodderTroops viewed as disposable
- interchangeablesMutually substitutable items
- fungiblesMutually interchangeable goods
- cogsProjections on a wheel
drones · numbers · nobodies · nonentities · throwaways
underlings
Lower-ranked employees
- minionsObedient subordinates of power
- lackeysServile attendants
- flunkiesSubservient assistants or followers
henchmen · retainers · attendants · servants · aides · assistants · lieutenants · deputies · factotums · go-fers
temps
Brief-term employees
- contractorsHired service providers
- freelancersSelf-employed contract workers
- casualsInformal everyday clothing
fill-ins · stand-ins · stopgaps · substitutes · replacements · locums · floaters
peons
Menial laborers with little status
- menialsLow-ranking domestic workers
- drudgesWorks tediously and hard
- laborersWorkers doing physical tasks
toilers · grunts · dogsbodies · skivvies · scullions · workhorses · serfs · coolies · navvies · roustabouts
contractors
Hired service providers
- sellswordsPaid combat fighters
- privateersLicensed wartime ship raiders
- freebootersMaritime raiders seeking plunder
legionnaires · auxiliaries · irregulars · bodyguards · enforcers · operatives · muscle · mercenaries · guards · fighters
expendables
Resources meant to sacrifice
- cannon-fodderTroops viewed as disposable
- interchangeablesMutually substitutable items
- fungiblesMutually interchangeable goods
cogs · drones · numbers · nobodies · nonentities · throwaways
- underlingsunderling, underlings, subordinate, minions, minion
hirelingsvolunteers
Unpaid willing workers
true believers · idealists · devotees · altruists · crusaders