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  • sitter
    sitter
    noun
    a person who sits.
  • Sitter
    Sitter
    noun
    Willem de 1872–1934, Dutch astronomer and mathematician.
Synonyms

sitter

1 American  
[sit-er] / ˈsɪt ər /

noun

  1. a person who sits.

  2. a brooding hen.

  3. a person who stays with young children while the parents go out; baby-sitter.

  4. a person who provides routine or custodial care temporarily or part-time, as for an elderly person or a pet whose owner is on vacation.

  5. Slang. the buttocks; rump.

Sitter 2 American  
[sit-er] / ˈsɪt ər /

noun

  1. Willem de 1872–1934, Dutch astronomer and mathematician.

sitter 1 British  
/ ˈsɪtə /

noun

  1. a person or animal that sits

  2. a person who is posing for his or her portrait to be painted, carved, etc

  3. a broody hen or other bird that is sitting on its eggs to hatch them

  4. (in combination) a person who looks after a specified person or thing for someone else

    flat-sitter

  5. short for baby-sitter

  6. anyone, other than the medium, taking part in a seance

  7. anything that is extremely easy, such as an easy catch in cricket

"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
Sitter 2 British  
/ ˈsɪtə /

noun

  1. Willem de (ˈwɪləm də). 1872–1934, Dutch astronomer, who calculated the size of the universe and conceived of it as expanding

"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

Etymology

Origin of sitter

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at sit 1, -er 1

Explanation

Don’t squash the children! A sitter can be anyone who sits — in a chair, on the floor, or anywhere else — but it’s often short for babysitter. They don’t actually sit on the babies, though. We hope. In addition to the person who sits or models for an oil painter, a sitter can also be someone who watches children as a paid job. It's short for babysitter: "Good news, guys, we're having the nice sitter tonight, the one who lets us stay up past bedtime!" The origin of sitter and babysitter isn't completely clear, but some experts guess the sit part comes from birds sitting on their eggs before they hatch.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

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.

One subsequent sitter would be Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, who had reportedly hated More so much that upon his execution she threw his portrait to the ground.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

He was fortunate to still be there after Harry Brook dropped a sitter in the slips, the latest in a long line of fielding blunders by England this series, before starting to play his shots.

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

The TV set was my sitter, and I became obsessed with movies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025

Rangers had to rely on a penalty save and Hibs missing a close-range sitter to leave EH7 with a 1-0 win.

From BBC • Nov. 9, 2025

One day his parents left him with a sitter and took the P & W high-speed trolley into the city.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

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.