sorner

/ˈsɔːnə/

Etymology

From sorn + -er.

sorner means one who obtrudes themselves on another for bed and board. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.

Why this word is great

SORNER — [Noun] One who imposes on another for food and lodging, especially under the guise of old custom or kinship, a peculiarly Scottish form of social parasite. From Scots sorn ("to sponge, impose for lodging") + the agent noun suffix -er. Unlike a "guest," whose presence is a credit, or a "moocher," whose casual freeloading lacks territorial weight, a sorner is an institution—a personified draft felt through the cracks of a bothy door. He is the unannounced figure at dusk whose horse is already in your stable, the extra bowl of brose thinning the family pot, the long shadow cast by a clan loyalty curdled into entitled expectation—a testament to the art of making your need another man's duty, a philosophy of cold hills and thinner goodwill.

noun

One who obtrudes themselves on another for bed and board.“It is our old friend the poet, but with a new face; he is now a soldier, a sailor, a king, and, in case of necessity, a very fair boxer, or "fistic artist," for the abatement of masterful beggars, "sorners," and other nuisances.”