assistant
Americannoun
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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:
As of 8:51 a.m., the Huntington recorded over 5,700 reservations, said Keisha Raines, the Huntington’s assistant director of news and media relations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Before he ran for public office, Graham served as an assistant Oconee County attorney and as the attorney for his hometown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Phone alarms are what get teaching assistant Layla through her day.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
There are elements of this course Masar cannot participate in fully for obvious health-related reasons but, anything she can do, the Chicago Red Stars assistant coach throws herself into.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Again in his element, he directs his assistant to remake the bed as he arranges my own belongings on Theo’s bureau.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
For the first time at this World Cup the whole on-field officiating team - referee, both assistants, fourth official and the reserve - are from the same country.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
The cut-outs themselves evolved over time, taking on various compositional and even accidental patterns on Matisse’s studio walls, before being glued by assistants onto a final surface.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Janine Vanderburg, co-founder of Changing the Narrative, an advocacy group raising awareness of ageism, asked five different AI assistants to produce an image of an entrepreneur.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The C-suite had assistants, and senior employees had institutional knowledge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Mr. Voskuijl, Bep’s father, works in the warehouse, along with two assistants, none of whom were told anything.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
