chauffeur

[ shoh-fer, shoh-fur ]

/ ˈʃoʊ fər, ʃoʊˈfɜr /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chauffeur ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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)

to drive (a vehicle) as a chauffeur.

to transport by car: Saturday mornings I have to chauffeur the kids to their music lessons.

verb (used without object)

to work as a chauffeur: He chauffeured for a time right after the war.

RELATED WORDS

cabdriver

Nearby words

Origin of chauffeur

1895–1900; < French, equivalent to chauff(er) to heat (see chafe) + -eur -eur

Related formsun·chauf·feured, adjectivewell-chauf·feured, adjective

Can be confusedchauffeur shofar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for chauffeur

But soon after, I remember feeling very, very stoned and asking his chauffeur to take me back to the car.
Bill Cosby’s Long List of Accusers (So Far): 18 Alleged Sexual Assault Victims Between 1965-2004|Marlow Stern|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The apartment was given to the chauffeur of Lavrenti Beria, the head of the NKVD.
When Stalin Met Lady Macbeth|Brian Moynahan|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It just shocked me, I swear I would have a chauffeur if I could ever afford one.
The Price of Being a Patton: Wrestling With the Legacy of America’s Most Famous General|Tim Teeman|May 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He welcomes her to L.A. with a chauffeur and a room at The Beverly Hills Hotel stuffed with cuddly Disney characters.
‘Saving Mr. Banks’ Reveals the Battle Over Disney’s ‘Mary Poppins’|Nico Hines|October 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST

They showed the chauffeur, Henri Paul, had lost control before he entered the tunnel at 75 miles an hour.
Tina Brown: No, Conspiracy Theorists, Princess Diana Was Not Murdered|Tina Brown|August 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It came; and—self-conscious, as if he were being married himself—he directed the chauffeur where to drive.
Vision House|C. N. Williamson
The man Charles there, who calls himself a chauffeur of experience, declares that we are what he calls 'hung up'!
The Hillman|E. Phillips Oppenheim
But no other was needed, for the chauffeur knew who it was with Arethusa, and all about him.
The Heart of Arethusa|Francis Barton Fox
Mr. Markheim had not expected us for another week and so hadn't been at the hotel to meet us, but was sending his chauffeur.
It Pays to Smile|Nina Wilcox Putnam
The machine slowed down, as though 1he chauffeur, in doubt, awaited the outcome of the discussion.
The Eyes of the World|Harold Bell Wright

British Dictionary definitions for chauffeur

chauffeur

/ (ˈʃəʊfə, ʃəʊˈfɜː) /

noun

a person employed to drive a car

verb

to act as driver for (a person)he chauffeured me to the stadium; he chauffeurs for the Duke

Derived Formschauffeuse (ʃəʊˈfɜːz), fem n

Word Origin for chauffeur

C20: from French, literally: stoker, from chauffer to heat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chauffeur

chauffeur

1896, originally "a motorist," from French chauffeur, literally "stoker," operator of a steam engine, French nickname for early motorists, from chauffer "to heat," from Old French chaufer "to heat, warm up; to become hot" (see chafe). The first motor-cars were steam-driven. Sense of "professional or paid driver of a private motor car" is from 1902.

The '95 Duryea wagon, which won the Chicago contest Fall, was exhibited at the Detroit Horse Show last week. Charles B. King, treasurer of the American Motor League, acted as "chauffeur," as the French say. ["The Horseless Age," April 1896]

chauffeur

1902, from chauffeur (n.). Related: Chauffeured; chauffeuring.