assistant
Americannoun
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assistants
plural
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a person who assists or gives aid and support; helper.
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a person who is subordinate to another in rank, function, etc.; one holding a secondary rank in an office or post.
He was assistant to the office manager.
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something that aids and supplements another.
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a faculty member of a college or university who ranks below an instructor and whose responsibilities usually include grading papers, supervising laboratories, and assisting in teaching.
adjective
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assisting; helpful.
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serving in an immediately subordinate position; of secondary rank.
an assistant coach.
noun
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a person who assists, esp in a subordinate position
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( as modifier )
assistant manager
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See shop assistant
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of assistant
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English assistent, from Latin assistent-, stem of assistēns “standing by,” present participle of assistere “to stand by, help”; see assist
Explanation
An assistant is someone that is there to help. If you work 80 hours a week, you might want to think about hiring a personal assistant to pick up your dry cleaning. The word assistant typically refers to someone who offers assistance. However, in certain professional situations, assistant can mean on a level below, as in "the Assistant District Attorney reports to the District Attorney." Not surprisingly, an assistant provides assistance. However, unlike a slave or an indentured servant, an assistant is paid for his work.
Vocabulary lists containing assistant
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ant, -ent
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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:
Enzo Maresca is just starting to find out this summer, having been chosen as the Spaniard's successor at Manchester City - returning after being Guardiola's assistant during the club's Treble-winning 2022-23 campaign.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
There, in Southaven, 69 turbines are constantly in motion to fuel Colossus II, built to train SpaceXAI's AI-powered assistant Grok.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Dr. Jinwook Kim, who led the research, is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University and will soon join the University of Seoul as an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The next sentence changed his career forever: “Barton, your match is France vs. Spain. … After that, I didn’t hear anything else. I didn’t even know who my assistant referees would be.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The assistant superintendent could eat his dinner off the floor.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Pablo de la Torre, one of Iraola's assistants, has also made the move to Liverpool and was previously the fitness coach at Bournemouth.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The start rate for parade and pageant helpers is $26 an hour, while the start rate for stage scheduling assistants is $28.25 an hour, according to the union.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Many worked on the shop floor at Harrods in London or were hired as assistants at his various businesses including the Ritz hotel in Paris.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Klopp has signed a deal until 2030 and will build his coaching team around former Liverpool assistants Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
During the war itself, William had to stand by and watch as his colleagues and assistants became military officers, then rose in rank.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
