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:
The latter’s proxy was city controller Kenneth Mejia, another person loathed by L.A.’s political know-it-alls because he keeps bucking it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
"You're coming in a little weak so I didn't hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not," the air traffic controller said, according to the Globe.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
As drivers ratchet up to Sport and Race modes on the manettino controller, the active exhaust valves allow more volume and breathy resonance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
She, much like the person behind the proverbial controller, is dropped into a world quickly becoming overrun by a viral plague with no idea what to do.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
It only took me fifteen minutes to put a controller on a reserve power line, then another hour to go outside and run the line to where the battery used to be.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The FAA, investigating the crash, found that two controllers had left the air-traffic tower before their shifts ended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The flight path travels through Saudi Arabian airspace, which is less busy than other parts of the region, and requires less interaction with air-traffic controllers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
They have become a hallmark of modern devices, with smartphones, watches and video game controllers among those containing small motors that move in response to specific electronic signals.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Instead, their experience will remain available to astronauts, engineers, flight controllers, and others working on the next stages of NASA's human spaceflight program.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
There is a point in the transcript where the cultural miscommunication between the controllers and Klotz becomes so evident that it is almost painful to read.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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