curator

American  

[kyoo-rey-ter, kyoor-ey-, kyoor-uh-ter] / kjʊˈreɪ tər, ˈkjʊər eɪ-, ˈkjʊər ə tər /

noun

curators plural

1. the person in charge of a museum, art collection, etc.

2. a person who selects content for presentation, as on a website.

3. a manager; superintendent.

4. Law. a guardian of a minor or any other person who is unable to care for their own affairs, especially with regard to their property.

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curator British  

/ ˌkjʊərəˈtɔːrɪəl, kjʊəˈreɪtə /

noun

1. the administrative head of a museum, art gallery, or similar institution

2. law a guardian of a minor, mentally ill person, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• curatorship
  noun
• subcurator
  noun
• subcuratorship
  noun
• curatorial
  adjective
• subcuratorial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• curators
  plural

Etymology

Origin of curator

First recorded in 1325–75; from Latin, equivalent to cūrā(re) “to care for, attend to” ( see cure) + -tor -tor

Explanation

If you are the curator of the school art show, you choose which pieces will be in it and decide how they will be displayed. A curator is someone who manages an art collection or exhibit. The kind of artwork a curator manages does not have to be the visual kind. You can curate a series of readings by selecting which authors read in it and who reads together. A curator is the person who gives the overall shape and feel to an art exhibit. In law, if you are the curator of someone's estate, you have been given legal power to manage it for someone who is too young or mentally unable to do it themselves.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curator curators

“I don’t know a single Black girl who hasn’t had a profound connection to ‘Black Girl’s Window,’ ” curator and Saar’s biographer, Zoé Whitley, told The Times in a recent interview.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Dr Sarah Perryman, curator of the Park Grass data, describes the site as "much more than a field experiment – it's a living record of ecological change".

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Organized by chief curator Janet Bishop and former associate curator Maria Castro, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it remains on view through Sept. 13.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Penner, the library's curator of African and Near Eastern Manuscripts, said the actors had been excited to see the text, with Holland being "super interested" in the artifact.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

"Including your father was an excellent idea," the curator said, handing me my check.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

The question is: Do you buy what Duchamp and the curators are selling?

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

"It's a daunting task," said Abeer Saha, who was one of a handful of curators tasked with choosing from 150 million objects across the Smithsonian -- which runs more than 20 museums and galleries.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Through its two-year initiative, PAM aims to offer a gathering point for artists, scholars and curators alike.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

She underwrote curatorial travel, including a 1997 trip to the Johannesburg Biennial, where a cohort of American curators, among them Nancy Spector and Thelma Golden, encountered a genuinely global art world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026

The author talked about how this uproar was probably also good for art historians and museum curators.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett

Related Words

• administrator
• conservator
• custodian
• director
• manager