aide
Americannoun
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an assistant or helper, especially a paid employee.
Years ago, my mom was a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten classroom.
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During the war she worked as an aide in a field hospital, changing bedpans and cleaning floors.
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an assistant or advisor to a public figure, especially one who works for a person in public office.
He is a journalist and former White House aide.
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The agency just called to say my mom's aide didn't show up this morning.
noun
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an assistant
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social welfare an unqualified assistant to a professional welfare worker
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short for aide-de-camp
Commonly Confused
See aid.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of aide
An Americanism first recorded in 1770–80; from French: literally, “helper”; see origin at aid
Explanation
Remember that aide with an "e" at the end is a noun. It refers to a person who helps or acts as an assistant, such as a nurse's aide or a presidential aide. The noun aide is actually a shortened form of the 17th century French phrase, aide-de-camp, which meant "camp assistant" and was the title given to the secretary of a high-ranking military officer. It was used extensively throughout the Revolutionary War, and the shortened form is considered an Americanism. Today, we apply the word aide to anyone who serves as an advisor or as an assistant.
Vocabulary lists containing aide
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Scrabble: Four-Letter Words with 3 Vowels
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Out of My Mind
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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:
When a Dallas Morning News political writer asked Paxton why he voted in Collin County, the attorney general shook his head as a campaign aide interceded.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
“We’re just going to answer questions on law enforcement today,” the aide said.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
She makes breakfast for her 87-year-old father and then rides her motorbike to her job as a health aide to 22 other elderly people in this poor farming village west of Bangkok.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
While they were detained, an aide who was with Khanna said they made appeals to the US Embassy in Jerusalem for help, and were released after a group of police officers intervened.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Then an aide will roll us, or help us walk, over to a waiting area.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
"In my mind, I have no other option than to present my resignation," Monique Barbut told aides, adding she intended to submit it to President Emmanuel Macron by early Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
“They’re a little confusing. We have them here in the tent. They’re a little confusing for even for us to figure out. We’ve had to ask the legislative aides for help,” O’Leary said.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
A top spokesperson for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass left her administration Monday after a brief tenure, joining a growing list of communications aides who have departed over the last nine months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
In his Beijing hotel suite, Carney watched the news from Greenland play out on the TV and debated with aides whether Trump’s demands would outlast him and become U.S. policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
“It would rock the world if it were known that Thieu was conniving with the Republicans,” he told aides.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
