counselor

American  

[kaun-suh-ler] / ˈkaʊn sə lər /

especially British, counsellor

noun

• counselors
  plural

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:

   advocate, counsel, barrister, solicitor, attorney

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• counselorship
  noun
• precounsellor
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• counselors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of counselor

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

Explanation

A counselor is the person you can consult in your time of need. Your school guidance counselor may suggest you take Spanish class next school year. Bueno? How you define counselor depends on where you are at the time. In court, a counselor is the lawyer who gives clients advice on legal issues and pleads their case in court. During a therapy session, a counselor helps people understand and resolve personal issues. And at summer camp, a counselor is the person who supervises the children's activities and makes sure they stay safe.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

counselor counselors

“Students who connect with a counselor early are far more likely to finish, and our counselors are stretched too thin to reach everyone who needs them,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Jacqueline Villatoro, a college counselor at Linda Marquez High School, said most students at the Huntington Park campus take the SAT, because it’s offered for free during school hours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

There are three words that will likely make this talk go away, says Brandon Smith, a counselor known as the The Workplace Therapist: “I trust you.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

That’s why it was so surprising to see longtime Republican operative Joe diGenova resign from his job as a top Trump consigliere — or, more formally, “special counselor to the attorney general” — on Thursday.

From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026

How many kids before me had stood in my exact spot, playing their counselor, while the other residents talked head on the side, waiting their turn.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

“Students who connect with a counselor early are far more likely to finish, and our counselors are stretched too thin to reach everyone who needs them,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Along with veterans, LGBTQ+ are one of two groups known to be at higher risk for suicide who are offered the option to connect with specially trained counselors when they contact the 988 lifeline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Some counselors, with straight faces, swore that the A in A&W stood for “alcohol.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Normally, when a death occurs inside a cellblock, facility executives dispatch clergy, rehabilitation coordinators, and mental health counselors to conduct psychological welfare checks.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Teenage defectors from the North, when they arrive in South Korea, have told government counselors of a recurring dream: they are sitting at a table with their families, eating warm rice.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Related Words

• advocate
• instructor
• mentor
• teacher