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

A flight attendant in France has succeeded in having her breast cancer recognised as an occupational disease, a first for the country's aviation industry, her lawyer and a trade union said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

A French court has for the first time recognised cosmic radiation as a factor in the breast cancer of a long-serving flight attendant.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 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

Proteus was sometimes said to be Poseidon’s son, sometimes his attendant.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

In all, about 6.9% of deaths among flight attendants and 6.7% of deaths among pilots were from radiation-related cancers, according to the analysis.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The flight attendants’ association said in its objection that while customer data might be protected, the deal lacks adequate safeguards to protect information about the attendants who worked for the defunct airline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 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

Many of the women are former Harrods employees, nannies and private flight attendants who came forward following a 2024 BBC posthumous investigation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

His female attendants take their places at high-backed chairs set in the corners of the room.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

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