Panderers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Those who indulge or cater to the desires of others, often to their own detriment or moral compromise
2. Individuals that facilitate the gratification of another's needs or wants, particularly in unethical or questionable contexts
3. People who exploit the weaknesses of others by providing what they crave, typically for selfish gains or profit

Etymology: The real story here belongs to "pander," not the suffix. Pander was a proper name: Pandarus, the go-between in Greek myth who arranged the affair between Troilus and Cressida. Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde" and Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida" made him famous, and his name became a common noun for a go-between in illicit love affairs. The "pander" in the word came from that name, and the verb later took on the sense of catering to someone's base desires. The ending is the plain part. "-er" is an agent suffix, attached to "pander" to name a person who does the action, and the word was formed in English from that verb. The suffix itself has a long ancestry, passing through Old French "-ier" from Latin "-arius," which denoted a person connected with something, and it reached English through Old English and Middle English "-ere."

Synonyms: indulgers, caterers