counselor

[ koun-suh-ler ]

noun

1. a person who counsels; adviser.
2. a faculty member who advises students on personal and academic problems, career choices, and the like.
3. an assistant at a children's camp, often a high school or college student, who supervises a group of children or directs a particular activity, as nature study or a sport.
4. a lawyer, especially a trial lawyer; counselor-at-law.

   Synonyms: barrister, solicitor, attorney, advocate, counsel

5. an official of an embassy or legation who ranks below an ambassador or minister.

Other Words From

• counse·lor·ship especially British, counsel·lor·ship noun
• pre·counsel·lor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of counselor¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English counseiler, counseillour, from Anglo-French cunseiler, cunseiliour, Old French conseilleor, conseillier; counsel, -eur, -er ², -or ²

Example Sentences

She volunteers as an online peer counselor for Maryland residents who have tested positive.

From Washington Post

My energy wasn’t placed on schoolwork, but on what my parents and school counselors glibly called “extra curriculars.”

From Washington Post

Many children, worried that their parents may overhear them talking about their problems to counselors, have used the texting service.

From Fortune

Elrich said he “would rather not” have a permanent police presence in schools and would like to hire more counselors and therapists.

From Washington Post

She told the paper her primary purpose is her work as a counselor, and she hopes her people skills will transfer as a Council member.

From Voice of San Diego

Mariame protests, and tells the guidance counselor that she does not understand.

From The Daily Beast

She must leave the banlieue, just as she insists to the school counselor, that she must go to high school.

From The Daily Beast

She begs the guidance counselor to let her advance to high school.

From The Daily Beast

If you identify with two or more of the following traits, you may want to seek out a nutritionist or counselor, according to Dunn.

From The Daily Beast

Caroline Trimm, a nurse counselor at Greenwich House in the SoHo district of Manhattan, seems to have the opposite view.

From The Daily Beast

Hast thou no king in thee, or is thy counselor perished, because sorrow hath taken thee as a woman in labour.

From Project Gutenberg

On the following day she told him that I was the widow of a counselor, who, being poor, lived in retirement.

From Project Gutenberg

The well-educated woman physician should be the friend and counselor of the mother during this anxious period.

From Project Gutenberg

He was made baron, and became, next to Kaunitz, the most influential counselor of the empress.

From Project Gutenberg

Sakkataka or Sasachatoko was at one time chief counselor of the Sachem of the tribe.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• advocate
• instructor
• mentor
• teacher