housekeeper
Americannoun
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a person, often hired, who does or directs the domestic work and planning necessary for a home, as cleaning or buying food.
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an employee of a hotel, hospital, etc., who supervises the cleaning staff.
noun
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a person, esp a woman, employed to run a household
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a person who is not an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
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a person who is an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of housekeeper
First recorded in 1375–1425, housekeeper is from the late Middle English word houskeper. See house, keeper
Explanation
A housekeeper is someone whose job involves cleaning other people's houses. In some cases, a housekeeper also cooks meals for her employers. It was once common in many countries for wealthy families to employ a live-in housekeeper, who may have been called a maid or a servant. Today it's less typical, although some families hire workers to clean occasionally — these people might come once a week and are usually called <>housecleaners rather than housekeepers. The word uses the sense of keep that means "maintain or preserve order."
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.
She took out an ad in the Palisadian-Post: Housekeeper available any day of the week.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 14, 2025
Housekeeper Gloria Satterfield's adult sons were supposed to receive life insurance money from the accident.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2023
“I can tell you as a friend of hers, she’s not,” said Lee Housekeeper, a local public-relations veteran, who joined Mr. Brown for the lunch interview.
From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2022
Lee Housekeeper, the media contact for John's Grill, told San Francisco Gate that it’s uncharacteristic for Konstin to speak ill of his restaurant patrons.
From Fox News • Aug. 27, 2019
Lyra knew the voice and the impatience: it was Mrs. Lonsdale, the Housekeeper.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
