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

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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

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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

In the process he came under the wing of Greg Harden, a no-nonsense athletic-department counselor who advised his charges to “control the controllables” and “pay up and shut up.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Roman Catholic Church in Avalon hosted a gathering on Thursday for community members who needed to speak to a counselor to help process what happened.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

His superpower seems to be the ability to cosplay a vain summer camp counselor in the Adirondacks from a bad Hallmark comedy.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 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

I bet Lester used to take him to some counselor who specialized in split personalities—schizophrenics or whatever—’cause Mong definitely had some advanced shit like that.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

Trainees and temporary summer workers, such as au pairs and summer camp counselors, also use the visa to enter the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

“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

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

And he didn’t have to worry about scholarships or stupid school counselors or just plain feelin’ useless.

From "Tears of a Tiger" by Sharon M. Draper

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Related Words

• advocate
• instructor
• mentor
• teacher

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