controller
Americannoun
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controllers
plural
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an employee, often an officer, of a business firm who checks expenditures, finances, etc.; comptroller.
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a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.
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British Aeronautics. a dispatcher.
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a regulating mechanism; governor.
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Also called control unit, processor. Computers. the key component of a device, as a terminal, printer, or external storage unit, that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute instructions fed into the device.
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Digital Technology. a remote piece of hardware used to direct or control an electronic device.
a video game controller.
noun
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a person who directs, regulates, or restrains
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Also called: comptroller. a business executive or government officer who is responsible for financial planning, control, etc
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the equipment concerned with controlling the operation of an electrical device
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of controller
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English countrollour, from Anglo-French countrero(u)llour, Middle French contrerolleur, equivalent to contrerolle “duplicate roll” + -eur, -our, from Latin -ōr- or -ātōr- noun suffixes; see control, -or 2, -ator
Explanation
The device that's used to operate a tool or machine is a controller. When you play video games, you move your character around on screen using a joystick or controller. A controller is any object or person that controls something. An air traffic controller is a person who usually works in a control tower at an airport and is in charge of monitoring and directing pilots to make sure planes take off and land safely. Another kind of human controller, also known as a comptroller, is the person in charge of accounting and finances at a business or organization. These controllers have the important job of being in control of the money.
Vocabulary lists containing controller
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.
See Examples For:
Hundreds of thousands of cockroaches were found in a shared home in an infestation described as the worst the pest controller had seen in 38 years.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
After her death was announced, the then-BBC director general Tim Davie paid tribute to her as "a broadcasting icon", while Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya described her as "warm, fearless and beloved by listeners".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
In the control room, the map of Greece is divided into 10 sectors, each managed by a controller assisted by an aide.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
I note that the Model Y retains a conventional turn-signal stalk, while previous designs, like Cybertruck, placed the turn-signal controller on the steering wheel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
“Hold up,” Manny says, stopping the game and tossing his controller out of Jus’s reach.
From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
Marvell refers to its custom chips as XPUs, and to the components that support them in data centers — such as networking and storage controllers — as XPU attach.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
He used a largely unknown cast and shot with an almost documentary immediacy, cutting between the plane and air-traffic controllers trying to make sense of what was happening.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
It continually updates flight information as aircraft progress through UK airspace, helping controllers maintain a safe and orderly flow of traffic.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Because the models and controllers operate independently, scientists can introduce new components without disrupting the rest of the framework.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
And then there was the woman selling video game controllers.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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.
