caretaker
Americannoun
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a person who is in charge of the maintenance of a building, estate, etc.; superintendent.
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a person or group that temporarily performs the duties of an office.
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British. a janitor.
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a person who takes care of another.
adjective
noun
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a person who is in charge of a place or thing, esp in the owner's absence
the caretaker of a school
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(modifier) holding office temporarily; interim
a caretaker government
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social welfare a person who takes care of a vulnerable person, often a close relative See also carer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of caretaker
First recorded in 1855–60; care + take ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )
Explanation
When you work as a caretaker, you look after a house or a piece of property. The caretaker of a grand old estate might live in a small cottage on its grounds. A caretaker might make small repairs to a house, weed a property's flower gardens, or mow the lawn. Some caretakers live in the house they care for, often during an off season when its main inhabitants don't stay there. You can also use the word to mean "caregiver," a person who takes care of someone who's elderly or ill, or to refer to someone who looks after animals.
Vocabulary lists containing caretaker
The Circuit
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The Shining
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A Boy Called Bat
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He has narrowed the field to 10 contenders, but said it isn’t clear that the right caretaker has appeared.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Gareth has always maintained the school caretaker saved his life, pulling him to safety through a shattered classroom window as the disaster unfolded.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
His mother, he says, deals with self-esteem issues because her identity has for so long been reduced to being a caretaker for elderly relatives, who, inevitably, pass away — leaving her feeling like a failure.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
The detention of Parra’s husband, Yonquenide José Yajure, meant the family’s breadwinner was gone, and she was unable to work without a caretaker for her two children.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026
Holmes also surprised his caretaker, Pat Quinlan, with a gift: two sturdy trunks, each bearing the initials MRW.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
