tutor
Americannoun
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tutors
plural
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a person employed to instruct another in some branch or branches of learning, especially a private instructor.
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a teacher of academic rank lower than instructor in some American universities and colleges.
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a teacher without institutional connection who assists students in preparing for examinations.
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(especially at Oxford and Cambridge) a university officer, usually a fellow, responsible for teaching and supervising a number of undergraduates.
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the guardian of a boy or girl below the age of puberty or majority.
verb (used with object)
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tutors,
present (3rd person singular)
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tutored,
past participle, past
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tutoring
present participle
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to act as a tutor to; teach or instruct, especially privately.
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to have the guardianship, instruction, or care of.
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to instruct underhandedly; coach.
to tutor a witness before he testifies.
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Archaic.
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to train, school, or discipline.
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to admonish or reprove.
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verb (used without object)
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tutors,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tutored,
past participle, past
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tutoring
present participle
-
to act as a tutor or private instructor.
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to study privately with a tutor.
noun
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a teacher, usually instructing individual pupils and often engaged privately
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(at universities, colleges, etc) a member of staff responsible for the teaching and supervision of a certain number of students
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Scots law the guardian of a pupil See pupil 1
verb
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to act as a tutor to (someone); instruct
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(tr) to act as guardian to; have care of
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(intr) to study under a tutor
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rare (tr) to admonish, discipline, or reprimand
Synonym Usage
See teach.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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subtutornoun
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subtutorshipnoun
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tutoragenoun
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tutorshipnoun
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undertutornoun
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mistutorverb
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tutorlessadjective
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well-tutoredadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tutorsimple
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tutorssimple
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have tutoredperfect
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has tutoredperfect
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am tutoringprogressive
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are tutoringprogressive
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is tutoringprogressive
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have been tutoringperfect progressive
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has been tutoringperfect progressive
Past
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tutoredsimple
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had tutoredperfect
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was tutoringprogressive
-
were tutoringprogressive
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had been tutoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tutor
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin tūtor protector, equivalent to tū- (variant stem of tuērī to guard; see tutelage) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A tutor is someone who gives private instruction: tutors teach one-on-one. If you ever helped someone learn something, you could say you tutored them. "Tutor" is also the title of someone who works with students one-on-one. There are writing tutors, music tutors, math tutors, and history tutors. You can find a tutor for just about anything you'd like to learn. Tutoring also sometimes means being the guardian for someone. In all cases, tutors tend to be helpful to their tutees: the people they tutor.
Vocabulary lists containing tutor
Occupations
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The Suffix -or, Part 1
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"Brothers in Hope"
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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:
Deloitte gives interns access to tutor agents that can provide on-demand micro-training.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
He is studying for the the law-school entrance exam so that he can become a test tutor.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
Another tutor is Sergey Nalobin, widely accused of being a spy, who once worked at the Russian embassy in London.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
She attended Princeton on 90% financial aid and worked part-time jobs on campus such as librarian, tutor and bartender.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
Jake is becoming quite the soccer star and Which tutor did you use for the ISEE?
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
Quintessentially, a global concierge firm whose U.S. memberships begin at $25,000 a year, has handled preschool applications, pet procurement and six-month family sabbaticals with traveling tutors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
They’re exploring schools that prioritize life skills, call teachers “guides” or “coaches” and use AI-based tutors that tailor the curriculum to the child’s individual needs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Michelle Crumm said that when her three children were in high school, they worked part time as tutors and on a golf course.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
They have different tutors each time they show up, but when she showed her daughter Allen's picture, she recognized him as one of the teachers who helped her.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
Surely Cardan must have been given fighting tutors since he was old enough to hold a stick in his hands.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Chatty and social, she volunteered in soup kitchens and tutored non-English speakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Simpson will have the luxury of being tutored by coach Sean McVay while sitting behind Stafford.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
He was tutored by his uncle, Étienne-Jean Delécluze, a polymath painter, art critic and novelist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
When not filming or being tutored, the boys spent their time swimming in the sea and their hotel pool; fishing, exploring local waterfalls, playing pool and even staging their own talent show.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
In addition to my own work, I was dividing my time between tutoring Finny in studies and being tutored by him in sports.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
She applied for her school to participate in Florida’s voucher-like program as a tutoring service and was approved.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
Summer school and summer tutoring costs also aren’t covered by the Child and Dependent Care Credit either, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
In some cases there's even private tutoring to arrange if their child has left mainstream school to focus on the sport.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The district is now turning to face-to-face tutoring, for example, that will be teacher-led.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
“I've got math tutoring this summer, OK? I have it later this afternoon, and I didn’t do the problems I was supposed to.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
