gatekeeper
Americannoun
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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
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.
It follows a broader trend of airlines focusing on high-earning business travelers over casual leisure flyers, with credit cards increasingly serving as the gatekeeper to the best travel benefits.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 19, 2026
As court composer and music gatekeeper, Salieri has power and position.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
In a statement it said it would analyse whether the two "act as important gateways between businesses and consumers, despite not meeting the DMA gatekeeper thresholds for size, user number and market position".
From Barron's • Nov. 18, 2025
Mr. Howard has come to biography writing after a distinguished career in publishing at Doubleday Books, and he discourses with knowledge and zeal about Cowley’s second act as a revivalist and gatekeeper.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
But there was something in the look and the voice of the gatekeeper that made him uneasy.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
