virtual assistant

American  

[vur-choo-uhl uh-sis-tuhnt] / ˈvɜr tʃu əl əˈsɪs tənt /

noun

1. a person, as a freelance office assistant, who works remotely in an administrative role.

2.  voice assistant.   digital assistant.  Digital Technology. a device or piece of software that can perform basic tasks and answer some questions in response to spoken natural language, often following a command or prompt.

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Etymology

Origin of virtual assistant

First recorded in 2000–05 virtual assistant for def. 1, and in 2010–15 virtual assistant for def. 2

Example Sentences

According to Bisha, she had originally signed a contract authorising the use of her image until the end of 2025 to represent a virtual assistant on an online government services portal.

From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026

Users accused Google Assistant - a virtual assistant present on many Android devices - of recording private conversations after it was inadvertently triggered on their devices.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026

Management noted on the recent earnings call that the company’s Meta AI product, which serves as a virtual assistant across the its social-media platforms, has more than 1 billion active users.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 10, 2025

Copilot exists as both a consumer app and a virtual assistant within the company’s enterprise tools.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025

For a virtual assistant, she’s got good taste, although she wasn’t a fan of the high-top sneakers.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas