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Synonyms

shepherd

1 American  
[shep-erd] / ˈʃɛp ərd /

noun

  1. a person who herds, tends, and guards sheep.

  2. a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people.

    Synonyms:
    keeper, defender, guardian, protector

  3. a member of the clergy.

  4. the Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

  5. sheepdog.

verb (used with object)

  1. to tend or guard as a shepherd.

    to shepherd the flock.

  2. to watch over carefully.

Shepherd 2 American  
[shep-erd] / ˈʃɛp ərd /

noun

  1. a male given name.

shepherd 1 British  
/ ˈʃɛpəd /

noun

  1. Female equivalent: shepherdess.  a person employed to tend sheep

  2. a person, such as a clergyman, who watches over or guides a group of people

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to guide or watch over in the manner of a shepherd

  2. Australian rules football to prevent opponents from tackling (a member of one's own team) by blocking their path

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Shepherd 2 British  

noun

  1. astronomy a small moon of (e.g.) Saturn orbiting close to the rings and partly responsible for ring stability

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • shepherdless adjective
  • shepherdlike adjective
  • undershepherd noun
  • unshepherded adjective
  • unshepherding adjective

Etymology

Origin of shepherd

before 1050; Middle English shepherde, Old English scēphyrde. See sheep, herd 2

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.

Unless you are at the level of wealth where you’re hiring a full-time money manager to shepherd your family foundation, you should retain control over your finances.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

He woke up before 3 a.m. the day of the verdict and read the 23rd Psalm, translating it from Hebrew, which begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

If the customer wanted cool, Jacobs would be their shepherd, skipping hand-in-hand with them into the future with abandon.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

"Finn's law" was named after German shepherd Finn, who suffered near-fatal injuries as he protected PC Dave Wardell from an attacker in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in 2016.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

Did he smell like a farmer or a shepherd?

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

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.