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
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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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"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:
An international-school tutor and translator in Suzhou, Zhou borrowed from his parents and took out bank loans to cover the costs of the surrogacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He is studying for the the law-school entrance exam so that he can become a test tutor.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 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
He keeps his voice calm, like when he’s trying to tutor someone who is a blockhead.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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
Obrokta said he offered administrators “an open checkbook” for tutors or other intervention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 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 said they were negotiating with trade union representatives about proposals to change the "academic staffing model" which would increase the use of grade 6 academic tutors, the lowest grade of staff.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
He checks the computer system at school, which states that Erin is being taught by home tutors.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
Chatty and social, she volunteered in soup kitchens and tutored non-English speakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 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
Tara started going to chess clubs in Year 2 but is now privately tutored.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
When I was in high school, I tutored a third-grade student every week at an after-school program in East Harlem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
But to accelerate his progress, she began to speak to him in Spanish, coaxed him to take up his text, and tutored him, and within a short while he was receiving high grades.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Puder’s schools provide tutoring, mentoring and flexible scheduling for teens who may have jobs or are parents themselves.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
"You find a tutoring relationship, one in which Musk is inducted into their talking points," says Ben Tarnoff, co-author of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.
From BBC ● 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
A recent webinar by Marguerite Roza of Edunomics laid out possibilities, including using the funds for tutoring or “enhanced” services like field trips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
“They show up to tutoring late,” she said.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
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.
