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shopkeeper

American  
[shop-kee-per] / ˈʃɒpˌki pər /

noun

  1. a retail merchant or tradesman; a person who owns or operates a small store or shop.

shopkeeper British  
/ ˈʃɒpˌkiːpə /

noun

  1. a person who owns or manages a shop or small store

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • shopkeeping noun

Etymology

Origin of shopkeeper

First recorded in 1520–30; shop + keeper

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.

With these five simple words, a Hindu man who stood up for a Muslim shopkeeper has been catapulted to fame and become an unlikely hero in India.

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026

"Simba is very important to us because he keeps the shop clean of the mice," Austin Moreno, a shopkeeper in Manhattan, told AFP from behind his till.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

The son of a Philadelphia shopkeeper, Schwarzman grew up watching his father extend credit to newly arrived immigrants to be repaid when they could, he recalled in his Giving Pledge letter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

“It was Ahmed the bystander who helped disarm one of the shooters,” said Latiph, referring to Ahmed el Ahmed, a shopkeeper who threw himself at one of the suspects on Sunday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025

The shopkeeper pulls the locket out from under my shirt.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

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.