gatekeeper
Americannoun
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gatekeepers
plural
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a person in charge of a gate, usually to identify, count, supervise, etc., the traffic that flows through it.
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a person or thing that controls access, as to information, often acting as an arbiter of quality or legitimacy: An open internet allows innovators to bypass traditional gatekeepers and promote their work on its own merit.
Treating office gatekeepers with respect will improve your chances of scheduling a face-to-face meeting or job interview.
An open internet allows innovators to bypass traditional gatekeepers and promote their work on its own merit.
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a guardian; monitor.
the gatekeepers of Western culture.
noun
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a person who has charge of a gate and controls who may pass through it
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any of several Eurasian butterflies of the genus Pyronia, esp P. tithonus, having brown-bordered orange wings with a black-and-white eyespot on each forewing: family Satyridae
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a manager in a large organization who controls the flow of information, esp to parent and subsidiary companies
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gatekeeper
First recorded in 1565–75; in 1905–10 gatekeeper for defs. 2, 3; gate 1 + keeper
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:
In findings published in Science Advances, the team showed that the MPS acts as a physical gatekeeper for nearly every major type of endocytosis.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
This lone holdout is clarifying: If one index gatekeeper could keep its standards, the others didn’t have to lower theirs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
AI companies vying for a spot in the Pentagon said Palantir has in effect become a gatekeeper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
The 56-year-old cleric largely kept a low profile during his father's rule, but there were longstanding rumours about his influence as a gatekeeper to the late supreme leader.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
The zoo gatekeeper was a short white man with a fat face.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Homer-haunted himself, he travels to obscure places, winning the trust of the gatekeepers and key-holders he meets, to commune with those who have shared his form of possession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
It urged cinemas to "act as gatekeepers for the audience, and clearly reject films that are obviously not up to standard instead of letting films like Niu Lai run rampant".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
We’re making stars again, and that’s so nice at a time when the gatekeepers have made it really hard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
When I moved to New York 11 years ago, brokers were the gatekeepers of some of the best apartments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
People often tell me that academics have no choice but to write badly because the gatekeepers of journals and university presses insist on ponderous language as proof of one’s seriousness.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
