stewardship
Americannoun
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the position and duties of a steward, a person who acts as the surrogate of another or others, especially by managing property, financial affairs, an estate, etc.
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the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.
New regulatory changes will result in better stewardship of lands that are crucial for open space and wildlife habitat.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stewardship
Explanation
Stewardship means the management or care of something, particularly the kind that works. If your company is making money, there’s probably been careful stewardship — or, a lot of luck. The sphere or responsibility of a steward (as in a manager or administrator), stewardship is often used to mean "the care, handling and management of resources." Your school requires stewardship to make sure its supplies aren’t stretched. Your clean water may be thanks to the stewardship of an environmental office. Though there is a steward on a ship to handle food and supplies, the ship in stewardship is not a seagoing vessel; it's just a suffix.
Vocabulary lists containing stewardship
Leadership Vocabulary
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Frightful's Mountain
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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.
The term "Blue continent" is used by Pacific Islands to describe a joint home and shared stewardship of the ocean.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
The British statesman and thinker emphasized stewardship, or what he called a partnership “between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Farmers have long been concerned by the squeeze placed on their profit margins by demands for cheaper food, high animal welfare standards and more environmental stewardship.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
“I told them if we can raise our people and become a platform for social justice and environmental stewardship to benefit Indian and non-Indian alike, I’ll do it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Christian saw a need to make economies in just about every area of state activity, and among many other things immediately withdrew the mainland estates granted to Tycho by Frederick II from his stewardship.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
