attendant

American  

[uh-ten-duhnt] / əˈtɛn dənt /

noun

• attendants
  plural

1. a person who attends another, as to perform a service.

   Synonyms:

   servant, retainer, follower, comrade, companion, escort

2. Chiefly British. an usher or clerk.

3. a corollary or concomitant thing or quality.

   Synonyms:

   consequence, accompaniment

4. a person who is present, as at a meeting.

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adjective

1. being present or in attendance; accompanying.

2. consequent; concomitant; associated; related: poverty and its attendant hardships.

   winter holidays and attendant parties; war and its attendant evils;

   poverty and its attendant hardships.

attendant British  

/ əˈtɛndənt /

noun

1. a person who accompanies or waits upon another

2. a person employed to assist, guide, or provide a service for others, esp for the general public

   a lavatory attendant

3. a person who is present

4. a logical consequence or natural accompaniment

   hatred is often an attendant of jealousy

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adjective

1. being in attendance

2. associated; accompanying; related

   attendant problems

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superattendant
  noun
• unattendant
  adjective
• attendantly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• attendants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of attendant

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, present participle of attendre “to notice, await”; see attend, -ant

Explanation

An attendant is someone present at a meeting or event. A flight attendant, for example, tends to the needs of passengers on a plane trip. The word attendant has to do with being present. An attendant on a flight is present to help you if you need anything. An attendant event is one that happens in the presence of another event. In other words, it can mean "accompanying." An illness can have attendant symptoms that go along with it. Remember that the word ends in -ant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

attendant attendants

“I’m genuinely passionate about my job,” says Jamie Gibson, a 33-year-old flight attendant and chef on private jets who goes by @flightess on Instagram and runs a training platform under the same name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Having already scanned his items alongside his Nectar loyalty card, he said he had waved an attendant over.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Flight attendant Cheryl DeFonce, meanwhile, wrote on Instagram that she and a colleague had been scheduled to work and fly to Kona on Saturday, but their flights in both directions were canceled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

A few minutes before the strike, the 35-year-old attendant had closed the station because of the risk of bombardment.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

The bus attendant now sits up beside the driver.

From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell

A study this month at the Harvard Medical School in the US, external found that flight attendants and pilots had the highest level of radiation-related cancer deaths among more than 500 different professions.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents about 4,400 flight attendants, said about 90% voted in favor of ratifying the new agreement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

According to the city authorities, the 29 facilities that charge a fee do so because they employ toilet attendants.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Flight attendants reported hearing and feeling the vibrations, and seeing a small amount of smoke before the oxygen masks were deployed.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Palace guards and attendants had showed me to the anteroom, through the long halls and corridors of the King’s House.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• aide
• assistant
• custodian
• helper
• nurse
• servant