housekeeper
Americannoun
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a person, often hired, who does or directs the domestic work and planning necessary for a home, as cleaning or buying food.
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an employee of a hotel, hospital, etc., who supervises the cleaning staff.
noun
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a person, esp a woman, employed to run a household
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a person who is not an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
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a person who is an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of housekeeper
First recorded in 1375–1425, housekeeper is from the late Middle English word houskeper. See house, keeper
Explanation
A housekeeper is someone whose job involves cleaning other people's houses. In some cases, a housekeeper also cooks meals for her employers. It was once common in many countries for wealthy families to employ a live-in housekeeper, who may have been called a maid or a servant. Today it's less typical, although some families hire workers to clean occasionally — these people might come once a week and are usually called <>housecleaners rather than housekeepers. The word uses the sense of keep that means "maintain or preserve order."
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:
He now owes nearly $13 million to the housekeeper.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
She stated in testimony that she had not been able to return to work as a housekeeper because of a lack in arm strength, as well as post-traumatic stress that prevents her being around dogs.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The housekeeper also recalled the days leading up to Simmons’ death, revealing that he had suffered a fall the night before he died.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
Hyatt’s CEO has thoughts on the World Cup…and $100,000 housekeeper salaries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
“Well—but if any difficulties should arise, my housekeeper is extremely clever.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
The two housekeepers denied that conversation with Brown took place, and said the language barrier would have made such a discussion unlikely.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The legal filing follows two lawsuits brought by former housekeepers of the embattled reality star.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
If Musk fails, he only earns his $54,080 salary, or about half of what unionized hotel housekeepers make in Manhattan.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Hotel housekeepers won a contract this week that will have them earning six figures in coming years, joining the city’s commuter train workers, doormen and nurses in notching gains this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
The plurality of my customers are hardworking locals—truck drivers, construction workers, even housekeepers from the attached hotel—and I want them to have the closest to a “fine dining” experience that the grubby circumstances will allow.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
