controller
Americannoun
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an employee, often an officer, of a business firm who checks expenditures, finances, etc.; comptroller.
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a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.
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British Aeronautics. a dispatcher.
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a regulating mechanism; governor.
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Also called control unit, processor. Computers. the key component of a device, as a terminal, printer, or external storage unit, that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute instructions fed into the device.
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Digital Technology. a remote piece of hardware used to direct or control an electronic device.
a video game controller.
noun
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a person who directs, regulates, or restrains
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Also called: comptroller. a business executive or government officer who is responsible for financial planning, control, etc
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the equipment concerned with controlling the operation of an electrical device
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of controller
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English countrollour, from Anglo-French countrero(u)llour, Middle French contrerolleur, equivalent to contrerolle “duplicate roll” + -eur, -our, from Latin -ōr- or -ātōr- noun suffixes; see control, -or 2, -ator
Explanation
The device that's used to operate a tool or machine is a controller. When you play video games, you move your character around on screen using a joystick or controller. A controller is any object or person that controls something. An air traffic controller is a person who usually works in a control tower at an airport and is in charge of monitoring and directing pilots to make sure planes take off and land safely. Another kind of human controller, also known as a comptroller, is the person in charge of accounting and finances at a business or organization. These controllers have the important job of being in control of the money.
Vocabulary lists containing controller
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.
See Examples For:
"There have been multiple reports as you can imagine," the controller adds on the radio.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Moises Caicedo was the defensive reference point while Enzo Fernandez pushed much higher rather than acting as a deep controller.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Today, AI-guided weapons can autonomously home in on objectives a controller picks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
A long-standing idea in neuroscience holds that the brain acts as a centralized controller that decides which actions an animal will perform.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026
Alicia's father studies the diagram while Dad unscrews the metal bottom of the blanket controller.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
Launching in the UK and Ireland on 22nd June, the Playground ditches controllers for body movements, tracking players using AI and a built-in camera.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Shortly before landing at LAX around 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, a military transport Gulfstream jet pilot told air traffic controllers that they “just had a potential skydiver around 4,000 feet,” per audio from ATC.com.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Nintendo promised in 2023 that it would repair or replace faulty controllers without cost, even if no longer covered by warranty.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
They serve as ecological indicators, predators within food chains, and natural controllers of pest populations.
From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026
They thumbed controllers and tried to blast Kyle out of the sky.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
