lessee

American  

[le-see] / lɛˈsi /

noun

1. a person, group, etc., to whom a lease is granted.

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lessee British  

/ lɛˈsiː /

noun

1. a person to whom a lease is granted; a tenant under a lease

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Other Word Forms

• lesseeship noun
• underlessee noun

Etymology

Origin of lessee

1485–95; < Anglo-French. See lease ¹, -ee

Compare meaning

How does lessee compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• lessor vs. lessee

Example Sentences

Jefferies doesn’t expect the government to reinstate the tax, citing last year’s Oilfields Development Bill, which stipulates that petroleum lease terms should remain stable and not be altered to the disadvantage of the lessee.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

He added that the state is in litigation with the lessee and believes it has been subleasing the space.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 12, 2023

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said her department must be consistent in how it applies lease terms to ensure that no lessee receives special treatment.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 26, 2022

“We must be consistent in how we apply lease terms to ensure that no lessee receives special treatment.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 26, 2022

Early in the sixties an impressario, with judgment sharpened by American experience, became the lessee of the same theatre, the Lyceum, which twenty years earlier had been managed by Charles Mathews and Madame Vestris.

From Social Transformations of the Victorian Age A Survey of Court and Country by Escott, T. H. S. (Thomas Hay Sweet)