- a variation of handmaid.
handmaiden
Britishnoun
-
a person or thing that serves a useful but subordinate purpose
logic is the handmaid of philosophy
-
archaic a female servant or attendant
Explanation
It's an old-fashioned word now, but a handmaiden was once a servant who worked for a wealthy family. You might feel like a handmaiden when your parents tell you to scrub every bathroom in the house. Long ago, a handmaiden (also called a handmaid) often served as the personal servant or maid to the lady of the house. You're much more likely to encounter this word in a book or movie these days, since someone employed in a home is more likely to be called an assistant, a housekeeper, or a cleaner. The term handmaiden comes from the sense of being "close at hand."
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.
Ms. Horn takes trouble to depict Kay as an individual rather than a handmaiden.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Their eviction was streamed live on TikTok as Offeh and "handmaiden" Kaura Taylor, from Texas, were handcuffed by immigration officers.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
For more than three decades after its creation in 1913, the Fed was largely a handmaiden of the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2025
After all, feeling hopeful is purpose's handmaiden, an involuntary mental state, like love or joy, that softens reality's sharp edges.
From Salon • May 30, 2021
Renowned educator Horace Mann saw phrenology as “the guide to philosophy and the handmaiden of Christianity,” and Horace Greeley of “Go West, young man” fame advocated phrenology tests for all railroad engineers.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
