potter
noun
a person who makes pottery.
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potter
1 American
[pot-er]
/ ˈpɒt ər /
noun
-
potters
plural
potter
2
American
[pot-er]
/ ˈpɒt ər /
verb (used without object)
Chiefly British.
Potter
3
American
[pot-er]
/ ˈpɒt ər /
noun
-
Beatrix 1866–1943, English writer and illustrator of children's books.
-
Paul, 1625–54, Dutch painter.
Potter
1
British
/ ˈpɒtə /
noun
-
( Helen ) Beatrix. 1866–1943, British author and illustrator of children's animal stories, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902)
-
Dennis ( Christopher George ). 1935–94, British dramatist. His TV plays include Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Singing Detective (1986), and Blackeyes (1989)
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Paulus. 1625–54, Dutch painter, esp of animals
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Stephen. 1900–70, British humorist and critic. Among his best-known works are Gamesmanship (1947) and One-Upmanship (1952), on the art of achieving superiority over others
potter
2
British
/ ˈpɒtə /
verb
-
(intr; often foll by about or around) to busy oneself in a desultory though agreeable manner
-
(intr; often foll by along or about) to move with little energy or direction
to potter about town
-
to waste (time)
to potter the day away
noun
potter
3
British
/ ˈpɒtə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of potter1
before 1100; Middle English; late Old English pottere. See pot 1, -er 1
Origin of potter2
1520–30; frequentative of obsolete, dial. pote to push, poke, Middle English poten, Old English potian to push, thrust. See put, -er 6
Explanation
If you regularly make bowls and mugs out of clay, you can call yourself a potter. Potters shape soft clay either by pinching it with their fingers or turning it on a wheel while pulling and squeezing the moving clay. After shaping and sometimes glazing or decorating a piece of pottery, a potter bakes it at a high temperature in a special oven called a kiln. The verb potter, "occupy one's self in a pleasant, unhurried way," comes from a different root from the noun — so a potter doesn't necessarily potter around her studio.
Vocabulary lists containing potter
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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:
But that requires more time and energy than I’m willing to sacrifice while raising a young child and entertaining my dreams of becoming a star potter.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
Chamlee once picked up a charming ceramic sun at a yard sale for $30—only to learn via Google that the stamp on the back marked it as a rare piece by midcentury potter David Gil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
The handprint found underneath was probably made when someone, perhaps the potter, moved the house out of the workshop to dry before firing in a kiln, according to the researchers.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
During her residency, she met Michael Frimkess, a Los Angeles potter who had studied with ceramic revolutionary Peter Voulkos at what would become the Otis College of Art and Design.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2024
The potter would bark terse commands, which Tree-ear struggled to satisfy by whatever means were available to him—watching Min, watching other potters, experimenting.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
“I’ve been a lifelong Harry Potter fan,” Harington told anchor Craig Melvin about his personal connection to the franchise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
That support mirrors the enthusiasm Felton has encountered from Harry Potter fans, which he says still surprises him more than two decades after he first played Draco.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Are the new logos for Hogwarts houses in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series actually more “historically” accurate?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
What do Tommy and Tuppence, Harry Potter, “Anne of Green Gables” and the old comic strip “Gasoline Alley” have in common?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
“We’ll take Mrs. Potter into my home to recover. By the looks of it, she’ll need plenty of bed rest before she’ll be herself again.”
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
The founder of Cincinnati’s Rookwood Pottery company, Maria Longworth Nichols, hired potters from Japan such as Kitaro Shirayamadani, who came to work at her factory in 1887.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
While ceramics were widely used and vast amounts of pottery survive, there are relatively few details known about the potters themselves, in comparison to other ancient Egyptian craftsmen.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
We inherited many of Beverly’s treasures once the place became ours, including richly hued bowls, mugs and serving pieces made by regional potters as well as signed oils and watercolors, drawings and numbered prints.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2025
While many potters generally do not like repetitive work, Chernoff believes her work as an engineer gave her an aptitude for repetitive tasks without “going out of my mind.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
Because he worked so slowly, he made far fewer pieces than the other potters, and consequently had to sell each of them at a higher price.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
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.
