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 a gift such as this, the church board or trustee is likely to prioritize safety over returns.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
She said that as “responsible stewards” of district resources, trustee actions “are often under scrutiny either formally or informally.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 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
However, a tribunal said on Thursday, external that the most serious instances of misconduct in the charity "were concealed" from Campbell by a fellow trustee.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Though not a Rockefeller Foundation trustee, Loomis was an intimate of several board members.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The trust fund that pays retirement and survivor benefits is projected to exhaust its reserves in late 2032, according to the program’s trustees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
In all, 16 people are vying for three seats on the seven-member board of trustees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Some trustees pushed for someone younger, with direct business experience and a strong underpinning in technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
These estimates are even more severe than what the Social Security trustees suggested in June.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
“Only the trustees can give permission. Four signatures are required: the chairman, plus three other board members.”
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
It is suing Washington's Riggs National Bank to recover $200,000 trusteed there for Mrs. Barnett out of the "donation" made to her.
From Time Magazine Archive
The estate belongs not to him, is trusteed to his son John.
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 National Association of Manufacturers notes that scandals have centered in labor and jointly controlled welfare funds, insists that trusteed company pension plans should be left alone.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
