stenographer
Americannoun
-
stenographers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stenographer
An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800; stenograph + -er 1
Explanation
A stenographer is someone who types what people say. You have to listen carefully and type very fast to be a stenographer. On TV shows, you may have noticed someone typing everything the judge, lawyers, and witnesses say in a courtroom. That's the stenographer. To be a stenographer, you have to type or write quickly and be skilled at shorthand. The act of taking dictation is referred to as stenography. Like a photographer captures images, a stenographer captures words.
Vocabulary lists containing stenographer
Flowers for Algernon
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Occupations
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Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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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:
And more courtrooms are turning to real-time speech-to-text tools, often to fill in when a human stenographer isn’t available.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Rather, it belonged to a woman from Illinois with a versatile résumé that included writing, acting, engineering and working as a stenographer: Lizzie Magie.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
She unearthed his autopsy report, filed a public records request for the case file and tracked down the stenographer who had sat through Livingston’s trial.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2023
West also worries the increased record-keeping during the inquiry stage—including bringing in a stenographer to record testimony and labeling all evidence—could deter anyone coming forward with a complaint.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 28, 2023
I did not see Mr. Crane or the stenographer in the office.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
California’s largest public sector union and the court reporters it represents warn the decision could allow the state’s court systems to stop hiring stenographers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
A long-brewing shortage has worsened as more stenographers retire and too few newcomers complete the rigorous training to replace them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
He would shake hands with the entire crew if the interview was on camera, and there would often be an embrace for the stenographers busily transcribing his thoughts.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
Pipeline opponents had criticized the Wednesday meeting because oral testimony was only accepted in private to stenographers in a curtained area in a hotel ballroom.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
We saw this happen time after time with Dad’s stenographers and with the cooks who followed Mrs. Cunningham.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
