tutor
Americannoun
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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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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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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
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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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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.
He eventually found work as an English tutor.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
She trades the lifeguard chair for a research internship, science camp, an SAT tutor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
Dr Ben King, who was Redfearn's tutor for five years, said he had been "highly intelligent", and a "lovely lad" who "everyone admired".
From BBC • May 23, 2026
So on Monday, the 48-year-old showed the picture to his 13-year-old daughter, who told him it was of Allen, “my tutor guy,” who had tutored her in English at C2.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2026
The letters were coming out strange and blockish, neither English cursive nor the German-style Kurrent script I had been taught years ago by my tutor.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
