housekeeper
Americannoun
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a person, often hired, who does or directs the domestic work and planning necessary for a home, as cleaning or buying food.
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an employee of a hotel, hospital, etc., who supervises the cleaning staff.
noun
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a person, esp a woman, employed to run a household
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a person who is not an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
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a person who is an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of housekeeper
First recorded in 1375–1425, housekeeper is from the late Middle English word houskeper. See house, keeper
Explanation
A housekeeper is someone whose job involves cleaning other people's houses. In some cases, a housekeeper also cooks meals for her employers. It was once common in many countries for wealthy families to employ a live-in housekeeper, who may have been called a maid or a servant. Today it's less typical, although some families hire workers to clean occasionally — these people might come once a week and are usually called <>housecleaners rather than housekeepers. The word uses the sense of keep that means "maintain or preserve order."
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.
The housekeeper also recalled the days leading up to Simmons’ death, revealing that he had suffered a fall the night before he died.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
Sorry to the housekeeper in El Paso and that young man in Arizona; she didn’t mean to scare you.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2026
Baker, a Dartmouth College grad and former ski bum who once worked as a housekeeper at a mountain lodge in Utah, started working at Fidelity in 1999 as an analyst.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Kylie Jenner is sued by a former housekeeper who says she has post-traumatic stress disorder after ‘severe harassment’ from fellow staff while working for the beauty mogul.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Newton was always generous to his family, and Catherine was a great beauty and excellent housekeeper.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
