chauffeur

American  

[shoh-fer, shoh-fur] / ˈʃoʊ fər, ʃoʊˈfɜr /

noun

• chauffeurs
  plural

1. a person employed to drive a private automobile or limousine for the owner.

2. a person employed to drive a car or limousine that transports paying passengers.

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verb (used with object)

• chauffeurs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• chauffeured,
  past participle,  past
• chauffeuring
  present participle

1. to drive (a vehicle) as a chauffeur.

2. to transport by car.

   Saturday mornings I have to chauffeur the kids to their music lessons.

verb (used without object)

• chauffeurs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• chauffeured,
  past participle,  past
• chauffeuring
  present participle

1. to work as a chauffeur.

   He chauffeured for a time right after the war.

chauffeur British  

/ ˈʃəʊfə, ʃəʊˈfɜː /

noun

1. a person employed to drive a car

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verb

1. to act as driver for (a person)

   he chauffeured me to the stadium

   he chauffeurs for the Duke

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chauffeuse
  noun
• unchauffeured
  adjective
• well-chauffeured
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chauffeurs
  plural

Participles

• chauffeuring
  present
• chauffeured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• chauffeur
  simple
• chauffeurs
  simple
• have chauffeured
  perfect
• has chauffeured
  perfect
• am chauffeuring
  progressive
• are chauffeuring
  progressive
• is chauffeuring
  progressive
• have been chauffeuring
  perfect progressive
• has been chauffeuring
  perfect progressive

Past

• chauffeured
  simple
• had chauffeured
  perfect
• was chauffeuring
  progressive
• were chauffeuring
  progressive
• had been chauffeuring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will chauffeur
  simple
• will have chauffeured
  perfect
• will be chauffeuring
  progressive
• will have been chauffeuring
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of chauffeur

1895–1900; < French, equivalent to chauff(er ) to heat ( see chafe) + -eur -eur

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Explanation

Do you pay someone to drive you around? Then you have a private chauffeur. Chauffeur literally means "operator of a steam engine" in French, but they used it as a nickname for the first motorists who drove steam engine cars. Today chauffeurs are just the guys you pay to drive you around, like the chauffeur of a limo. Chauffeur can also be used as a verb: once you get your driver's license, your parents will be happy to not have to chauffeur you back and forth to school.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chauffeur chauffeurs chauffeured chauffeuring

During his working life as a professional chauffeur, he relied on his memory to drive his clients around London, and at the age of 70 he attended evening classes to improve his reading.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

Mr. David never took the test, getting by instead with an assortment of gigs that included bra salesman, paralegal, limousine chauffeur and cabdriver.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Sami is an IT manager, chauffeur and ticket reseller in addition to his social-media-influencer aspirations, which seem to be built around his proximity to famous faces.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Mulholland grabbed his assistant and told his chauffeur to head there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

In the car, he insisted on driving me as if he were my chauffeur.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

"They paid for all my hotels, chauffeurs... to allow me to perform the job that I did," she said.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

He chauffeurs them around in a rental minivan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026

John Lennon, who in life was such a terrible driver that he hired chauffeurs for the safety of those around him, is in command of the main spaceship.

From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2023

State lawmakers responded by requiring seatbelts for all passengers and commercial driver’s licenses for chauffeurs.

From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2023

She and her aunt picked their way across the cobblestones, avoiding the horses with their brisk clippity clops and the boxy black cars with chauffeurs in patent-brimmed caps.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Infantino arrived at Fifa's offices in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday in now-familiar fashion, chauffeured to the building in a motorcade, sitting in the back of a Mercedes with blacked out windows.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

People Magazine published a video of Dunham, who created the series Girls, being chauffeured through Manhattan in a black SUV.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

The males are then chauffeured to Garden Grove, where they’re zapped with X-rays.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026

Nearly every Saturday morning my mother ferried me to and from synagogue; in the evening she chauffeured me to whichever hotel ballroom was hosting the reception.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

Santa is chauffeured by a reindeer in a cap.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

For instance, the decision allowed Sami to keep certain write-offs, such as most of his car expenses for a chauffeuring service he owns.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

TBR Global Chauffeuring, a luxury chauffeuring company that Lyft acquired last year, saw its strongest month on record in June.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Cars and drivers are typically pitched to shareholders as a security expense, not a chauffeuring perk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

During a chance encounter chauffeuring François Truffaut around, the master auteur told the desperate factotum that he had an eye for directing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2025

“More money in chauffeuring and dog-sitting,” she mumbled.

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

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