trustee
Americannoun
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trustees
plural
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a person, usually one of a body of persons, appointed to administer the affairs of a company, institution, etc.
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a person who holds the title to property for the benefit of another.
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(in New England) a garnishee.
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a trusty.
verb (used with object)
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to place in the hands of a trustee or trustees.
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(in New England) to garnish.
noun
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a person to whom the legal title to property is entrusted to hold or use for another's benefit
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a member of a board that manages the affairs and administers the funds of an institution or organization
Usage
What does trustee mean? A trustee is a person who is appointed to administer the affairs of a company or other organization. Often such an organization will have a group, or a board, of trustees. A trustee can also be a person who holds the title to a property for someone else. If you inherit millions of dollars before you reach adulthood, the will might state that an adult manages that money for you until you become an adult. That person would be the trustee of your money. Example: The board of trustees advised us against running this ad during primetime.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of trustee
Explanation
A trustee is someone who is responsible for another person's money or property. Trustees sometimes oversee investment accounts or make sure a property is being taken care of. Trustee is a legal term that's often used when people write wills or set up trusts—funds that are set aside for specific recipients, usually called beneficiaries. There's also the kind of trustee who serves on a board of trustees, a group of people responsible for overseeing a charity or business, setting up policies and goals, and approving budgets. In either case, people have put their trust in the trustee.
Vocabulary lists containing trustee
The Inheritance Games
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The Legislative Branch, Sections 1–3
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Legal Lingo, List 3
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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:
Torossian explained due to Mason's health conditions, a 'god man' - a legally appointed trustee - was given power of attorney to look after her dad's affairs.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
If your niece’s mother lives there rent-free, the trustee should be comfortable that doing so benefits your niece and there should be no rules forbidding it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
"Under the supervision of the commission, an independent trustee will monitor their implementation," it added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Unified to detail specifically how it will carry out the future cuts; otherwise the county superintendent will appoint a trustee with authority to veto spending decisions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
During a visit to the Rad Lab in November 1946, AEC commissioner Lewis Strauss, a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, pulled him aside to offer him the institute’s directorship.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The latest annual report from the program’s trustees, released in June, pulled forward by another few months the date at which the old-age portion of the program will run out of funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Chandrasekaran's resignation, which comes days ahead of Tata Sons' annual general meeting, points to tensions that have been playing out for months after a boardroom power battle erupted between trustees.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Vinita Prabhakar filed a federal lawsuit against South Florida State College President Fred Hawkins and the school’s board of trustees, arguing her dismissal violated her First Amendment rights and academic freedom.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
I am not now privy to the thinking of Yale administrators and trustees.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
“The trustees have deemed the application of the poultice an unnecessary expense, although I am quite sure they themselves would not enjoy being bitten by fleas.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
It marked a stark change from April 2016, when the university’s board of trusteed voted to keep the former president’s name on campus buildings and programs.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2020
Already the Government has got back from the Chase National Bank with which it was trusteed, the half million dollars which Jackson Barnett gave the Baptist Home missions.
From Time Magazine Archive
The National Association of Manufacturers notes that scandals have centered in labor and jointly controlled welfare funds, insists that trusteed company pension plans should be left alone.
From Time Magazine Archive
To him she left $5,000,000, but again the bulk of the Flagler fortune went undivided into a trusteed estate.
From Time Magazine Archive
Only other individual owner of trusteed stock is George H. Thornley, who has 39,000 shares.
From Time Magazine Archive
She informed the executors that she wished to make over half her property to the old man, trusteeing it so that it should descend to his nephew.
From Overland by J. W. (John William) De Forest
I know that I registered a vow that I would never again be trustee of anything without trusteeing it in fact.
From The Making of an American by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis
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.
