controller
Americannoun
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controllers
plural
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an employee, often an officer, of a business firm who checks expenditures, finances, etc.; comptroller.
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a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.
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British Aeronautics. a dispatcher.
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a regulating mechanism; governor.
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Also called control unit, processor. Computers. the key component of a device, as a terminal, printer, or external storage unit, that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute instructions fed into the device.
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Digital Technology. a remote piece of hardware used to direct or control an electronic device.
a video game controller.
noun
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a person who directs, regulates, or restrains
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Also called: comptroller. a business executive or government officer who is responsible for financial planning, control, etc
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the equipment concerned with controlling the operation of an electrical device
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of controller
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English countrollour, from Anglo-French countrero(u)llour, Middle French contrerolleur, equivalent to contrerolle “duplicate roll” + -eur, -our, from Latin -ōr- or -ātōr- noun suffixes; see control, -or 2, -ator
Explanation
The device that's used to operate a tool or machine is a controller. When you play video games, you move your character around on screen using a joystick or controller. A controller is any object or person that controls something. An air traffic controller is a person who usually works in a control tower at an airport and is in charge of monitoring and directing pilots to make sure planes take off and land safely. Another kind of human controller, also known as a comptroller, is the person in charge of accounting and finances at a business or organization. These controllers have the important job of being in control of the money.
Vocabulary lists containing controller
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:
The FAA review found that an air-traffic controller alerted Marine One about the American Airlines jet, which was taking off for Pensacola, Fla., but didn’t notify the plane’s pilots of the helicopter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
US aviation regulator the FAA said that "the air traffic controller was in contact with both the commercial pilot and Marine One pilot during the loss of separation."
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Mark Chamberlin, the school’s controller between 2021 and 2023, said he was startled by how weak financial management was, with few internal controls, poor record-keeping and few consequences when overspending came to light.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Cloud gaming allows players to stream and play games online from a remote server using a phone, tablet or controller, rather than downloading and running it on a PC or console at home.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
I rolled over and saw Alaska pulling the controller up and to the right, as if that would help her escape certain death.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
"We do know, as I've mentioned before, that this is a significant, I guess, ramping up period for air services in terms of recruiting, training, and qualifying air traffic controllers," he added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
To keep the spacecraft operating, mission controllers have increasingly had to shut down systems and equipment that are no longer essential.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The agencies warned that Iran-affiliated hackers were targeting internet-connected industrial controllers “to cause disruptive effects within the United States.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Federal aviation officials are investigating why air-traffic controllers hadn’t halted commercial flights at a nearby airport as required under safety protocols, The Wall Street Journal reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Various numbers controllers, Small’s regulars, had offered me jobs as a runner.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
