chauffeur
Americannoun
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a person employed to drive a private automobile or limousine for the owner.
-
a person employed to drive a car or limousine that transports paying passengers.
verb (used with object)
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to drive (a vehicle) as a chauffeur.
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to transport by car.
Saturday mornings I have to chauffeur the kids to their music lessons.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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chauffeursimple
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chauffeurssimple
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have chauffeuredperfect
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has chauffeuredperfect
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are chauffeuringprogressive
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am chauffeuringprogressive
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is chauffeuringprogressive
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have been chauffeuringperfect progressive
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has been chauffeuringperfect progressive
Past
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chauffeuredsimple
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had chauffeuredperfect
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was chauffeuringprogressive
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were chauffeuringprogressive
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had been chauffeuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chauffeur
1895–1900; < French, equivalent to chauff(er ) to heat ( see chafe) + -eur -eur
Explanation
Do you pay someone to drive you around? Then you have a private chauffeur. Chauffeur literally means "operator of a steam engine" in French, but they used it as a nickname for the first motorists who drove steam engine cars. Today chauffeurs are just the guys you pay to drive you around, like the chauffeur of a limo. Chauffeur can also be used as a verb: once you get your driver's license, your parents will be happy to not have to chauffeur you back and forth to school.
Vocabulary lists containing chauffeur
English Words Derived from French, List 3
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List 10
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A Confederacy of Dunces
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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.
Foster kittens Bisque, Poolboy and Chauffeur play together during a silent reading night.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2025
Nauman Hussain, operator of Prestige Limousine & Chauffeur Service, has been charged with one felony count related to the deadliest U.S. transportation accident in nearly a decade.
From Reuters • Nov. 19, 2018
After Google acquired Levandowski’s companies, Project Chauffeur continued to move forward, and Google’s investment in autonomous technologies soon surpassed a billion dollars.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 15, 2018
In 2015, Project Chauffeur celebrated more than a million self-driven miles.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 15, 2018
“It’s there. From Semiramis. Chauffeur brought it before ten oclock.”
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
