enabler

[ en-ey-bler ]

noun

1. a person or thing that enables something, or makes it possible:

   Technology is a key enabler of efficiency and productivity.

2. a person who enables or supports someone else’s bad or dysfunctional behavior:

   His wife is an unwitting enabler who makes excuses for his drinking.

Word History and Origins

Origin of enabler¹

First recorded in 1610–20; 1975–80 enabler fordef 2

Example Sentences

Overnight, Trump became chief enabler to the chief “criminals” he claimed were killing Americans, and his base didn’t even hear about it as Fox News called President Biden an “accessory to murder.”

From Salon

They say calling Trump what he is — a pendant authoritarian, a convicted criminal, an enabler of the worst and most dangerous elements of our body politic — constitutes a death threat, not a description.

From Salon

He's a right-wing idealogue whose leadership has done great damage to the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the country and lately become an enabler of former President Donald Trump.

From Salon

But she does know that she will forever be seen as an enabler of the violence and its resulting hatred, and as a terrible parent.

From BBC

And I think it is important for people to see obviously, in this story, the bad guy is Donald Trump, but his chief enabler is Kevin McCarthy.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• facilitator