mentee

[ men-tee ]

noun

1. a person who is guided by a mentor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mentee¹

ment(or) + -ee

Example Sentences

Give mentees strong sponsorship, strong feedback, and roles and responsibilities that challenge them so they can demonstrate their ability to do more.

From Fortune

I think what Oscar called out with the “What makes a good mentee and what makes a good COOP apprentice” question…It’s curiosity.

From Search Engine Land

Then they measured the subsequent publication impact of the mentees according to how often their papers were cited on average.

From Nautilus

We will provide some guidance for beginning and maintaining a relationship with your mentee.

From ProPublica

We often think, well, we discount the benefits of future creations of our mentees because we don’t see them.

From Freakonomics

Last year, I saw directly how this plays out through my mentee, Christian.

From The Daily Beast

Over time, their potent mentor-mentee relationship evolved into a passionate on-again, off-again love affair.

From The Daily Beast

And next time, Mr. Clutterbuck might want to advise against providing your mentee—of either gender—access to classified documents.

From The Daily Beast

Reports often refer to Paula Broadwell as a mentee of David Petraeus.

From The Daily Beast

Cummins, whom Kelly calls “WoBo” for “Wonderful Bob,” has the highest opinion of his former mentee as a lawyer.

From The Daily Beast

More About Mentee

What does mentee mean?

A mentee is the person being mentored by a mentor.

A mentor is the main person you rely on to give you advice and guidance, especially in your career. If you have a mentor, you are the mentee. Mentee is only used in relation to a mentor.

Example: I feel like I’ve learned more from my mentees than they have from me.

Where does mentee come from?

The first records of mentee come from the 1960s. Similar to most mentor-mentee relationships, mentor is much older—the first records of it come from the 1700s, but it wasn’t popularly used as a verb until the 1900s. Mentee is a combination of mentor and the suffix -ee, which indicates a person who is the object or beneficiary of the act specified by the verb. (For example, addressee refers to the person to whom something is addressed; employee refers to the person being employed.)

The words mentor and mentee are most commonly used in professional and academic contexts. In academia, a mentor is usually a teacher, especially a professor, and a mentee is typically a student. A mentor may act as a model for the mentee’s career and help them decide which path to pursue. The same thing goes for professional mentor-mentee relationships, in which the mentor is usually a boss or a person who holds a more senior position. Because mentors draw on their experience to mentor mentees, mentors are usually older. In all cases, the two words imply a close relationship based on the mentee’s respect for the mentor’s wisdom and experience and the mentor’s recognition of the mentee’s dedication and potential.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to mentee?

• mentees (plural)

What are some words that share a root or word element with mentee? 

 

• mentor

 

What are some words that often get used in discussing mentee?

 

• student
• teacher
• professor
• boss
• craft
• learn
• example
• apprentice
• experience

How is mentee used in real life?

Mentee is typically used by mentees themselves and their mentors when referring to such a relationship.

you know those scenes in movies where a cool older mentor gives their mentee a stack of albums that’ll “change their life” or whatever? i wanna do that but with a sleeve of burned CDs & be like “autobiography – simpson. metamorphosis – duff. let go – lavigne. misundaztood—

— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) January 31, 2020

Today a mentee of mine passed her driving test, which will open up the door to a job, which will lead to a career, and grad school and great opportunities. I feel so happy for her. A year ago in a homeless shelter—today on the cusp of BIG THINGS! ❤️

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) February 18, 2020

Sitting with my mentee. He just told me he’s never seen The Godfather 1, Godfather 2, or The Color Purple. I’m literally disgusted.

— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) May 17, 2019

 

 

Try using mentee!

Is mentee used correctly in the following sentence?

In retrospect, I was a bad mentee—I was never good at taking good advice.