chaperone

American  

[shap-uh-rohn] / ˈʃæp əˌroʊn /

Or chaperon

noun

• chaperones
  plural

1. a person, usually a married or older woman, who, for propriety, accompanies a young unmarried woman in public or who attends a party of young unmarried men and women.

   Synonyms:

   escort

2. any adult present in order to maintain order or propriety at an activity of young people, as at a school dance.

3. a round headdress of stuffed cloth with wide cloth streamers that fall from the crown or are draped around it, worn in the 15th century.

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verb (used with object)

1. to attend or accompany as chaperone.

   Synonyms:

   escort

verb (used without object)

1. to act as chaperone.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chaperonage
  noun
• chaperonless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chaperones
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of chaperone

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Middle French: “hood, cowl,” equivalent to chape cape ¹ + -eron noun suffix; figurative sense from French (18th century)

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Explanation

High school dances always have at least one chaperone to keep an eye on things. A chaperone is someone who looks after and supervises another person or a group of people. Chaperone can also be spelled chaperon, without the e. It originally meant a woman whose duty was to accompany a younger woman and make sure she wasn't harmed and didn't get into trouble, especially when she was with a man. These days, chaperone is most often used to describe an adult who supervises a group of kids or teenagers. The Old English meaning was "protective hood or head covering," and today the word chaperone retains that "protective" quality.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chaperone chaperones

At some stage on Monday morning, he absconded from his court-approved civilian chaperone.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Yet these survivors are so hard-wired to be fearful of their neighbors that Hig and Cima’s rusty, tentative flirtation takes place under the gaze of her daddy’s gun, a heck of a chaperone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

As the company spread across the U.S., it maintained rules for decades: Kids were allowed only with a chaperone age 25 or older, and adults could tote along just three total kids.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

These chaperone policies—sometimes called youth escort or parental guidance policies—started decades ago and have increased alongside the rise in mall disruptions over the years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

Me: Mom said I can go to Davis for a few hours without a chaperone!

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

Kleiman said many adults rent short-term rentals for young people but then do not accompany them as chaperones.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

A £1.2m investment is planned to provide specialist training in schools most affected by knife crime, fund measures such as mentoring for high-risk students, and the deployment of chaperones on school routes.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

James Cockayne, an Australian anti-slavery official, tells us there are “concerns that the women are being accompanied by chaperones and minders from the Iranian regime who are controlling their ability to move and speak freely.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

However, there is no blanket ban on hosting events with children under 16 if they are supervised – as was the case with the Leicester Square stunt, where some adults attended as chaperones.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025

“Nope. Just sat in a folding chair next to the chaperones all night. Hung out with some guys doing layups on the other side of the gym. But no dancing.”

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

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