trustee
Americannoun
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trustees
plural
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a person, usually one of a body of persons, appointed to administer the affairs of a company, institution, etc.
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a person who holds the title to property for the benefit of another.
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(in New England) a garnishee.
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a trusty.
verb (used with object)
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to place in the hands of a trustee or trustees.
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(in New England) to garnish.
noun
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a person to whom the legal title to property is entrusted to hold or use for another's benefit
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a member of a board that manages the affairs and administers the funds of an institution or organization
Usage
What does trustee mean? A trustee is a person who is appointed to administer the affairs of a company or other organization. Often such an organization will have a group, or a board, of trustees. A trustee can also be a person who holds the title to a property for someone else. If you inherit millions of dollars before you reach adulthood, the will might state that an adult manages that money for you until you become an adult. That person would be the trustee of your money. Example: The board of trustees advised us against running this ad during primetime.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of trustee
Explanation
A trustee is someone who is responsible for another person's money or property. Trustees sometimes oversee investment accounts or make sure a property is being taken care of. Trustee is a legal term that's often used when people write wills or set up trusts—funds that are set aside for specific recipients, usually called beneficiaries. There's also the kind of trustee who serves on a board of trustees, a group of people responsible for overseeing a charity or business, setting up policies and goals, and approving budgets. In either case, people have put their trust in the trustee.
Vocabulary lists containing trustee
The Inheritance Games
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The Legislative Branch, Sections 1–3
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Legal Lingo, List 3
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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:
For families with complex estates, consolidating accounts and assets under one trustee can help everything run more smoothly.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
David Panzirer, a trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, resigned in protest as a board observer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Campbell was banned from being a charity trustee for five years in 2024 after a watchdog found that Fashion for Relief funds had been spent on luxury hotels and spa treatments.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Experience: Veres cited his role as trustee and previous work as a teacher as key experience for another four-year term.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
“That’s the trustee from medical supply. Someone’s sick.”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
"It is imperative that Cornell be willing to examine itself with the same rigor we expect of others," Anne Meinig Smalling, chair of the university's board of trustees, said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
The charity has already reduced staffing costs, but trustees said it would close permanently unless it raised £25,000 by the end of October.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Five candidates are vying for Seat 2 on the board of trustees for the Los Angeles Community College District, where they will oversee some 200,000 students and an annual budget around $10 billion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Tuesday night, Cornell’s president, provost and chair of the board of trustees wrote a letter to the Cornell community addressing the uproar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Now, one member short and without a chairman to appoint a replacement, the board of trustees of the Swanburne Academy was stripped of all its power.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
It marked a stark change from April 2016, when the university’s board of trusteed voted to keep the former president’s name on campus buildings and programs.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2020
Two-thirds of the common stock has been trusteed to Robert De Forest, Haven Emereon, and myself to be used for philanthropic purposes when dividends are available, which is not yet the case.
From Time Magazine Archive
Only other individual owner of trusteed stock is George H. Thornley, who has 39,000 shares.
From Time Magazine Archive
The estate belongs not to him, is trusteed to his son John.
From Time Magazine Archive
In February, 1918, all but 23 shares were obtained, trusteed and a "plan of mutualization" was practically accomplished.
From Time Magazine Archive
I know that I registered a vow that I would never again be trustee of anything without trusteeing it in fact.
From The Making of an American by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis
She informed the executors that she wished to make over half her property to the old man, trusteeing it so that it should descend to his nephew.
From Overland by J. W. (John William) De Forest
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