innkeeper
Americannoun
-
innkeepers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of innkeeper
Explanation
An innkeeper is someone who owns or manages an inn. When you arrive at an inn, the innkeeper might be the person who checks you in and gives you a key to your room (and maybe a chocolate on your pillow). The earliest innkeepers ran inns in Europe during medieval times. These inns provided lodging, food, and a place for travelers to leave their horses, and an innkeeper managed all of these details. Today in the UK, some pubs call themselves inns, so you might find an innkeeper serving pints there, while in the US an inn is almost always a more charming version of a motel, run by an innkeeper.
Vocabulary lists containing innkeeper
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.
See Examples For:
“I spent an hour getting her back on,” Lee said of rebooting the machine to give the innkeeper access.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
“I believe everything out of the common,” says the innkeeper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Shelley Hunter, an innkeeper from Quincy, Calif., says airlines should be able to exclude kids from some flights.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2023
But Ms. Rolikova, the innkeeper, thought it was important to see it, and so she opened the padlocked door to reveal a palimpsest of Russia over the past century.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2023
The innkeeper was back with a plate of thick brown bread studded with nuts and raisins.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
The innkeepers are very friendly and anxious to help you explore the island.
From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2023
Born about 1772, enslaved as a child and then set free by a family of German American potters, Mr. Commeraw began designing ceramics in the 1790s, including food storage vessels for oystermen and innkeepers.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023
A couple in upstate New York became impromptu innkeepers for South Korean tourists over the weekend after the visitors became stranded in an intense blizzard.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 26, 2022
As part of the job, the innkeepers will receive a healthcare plan and two weeks of vacation, with room and board included.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
He had given letters to the innkeepers everywhere, and they had promised to send them on.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
