usher
noun
a person who escorts people to seats in a theater, church, etc.
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usher
1 American
[uhsh-er]
/ ˈʌʃ ər /
noun
-
ushers
plural
-
a person who escorts people to seats in a theater, church, etc.
-
a person acting as an official doorkeeper, as in a courtroom or legislative chamber.
-
a male attendant of a bridegroom at a wedding.
-
an officer whose business it is to introduce strangers or to walk before a person of rank.
-
British Archaic. a subordinate teacher or an assistant in a school.
verb (used with object)
-
ushers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ushered,
past participle, past
-
ushering
present participle
-
to act as an usher to; lead, introduce, or conduct.
She ushered them to their seats.
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to attend or bring at the coming or beginning; precede or herald (usually followed byin ).
to usher in the new theater season.
verb (used without object)
-
ushers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ushered,
past participle, past
-
ushering
present participle
Usher
2
American
[uhsh-er]
/ ˈʌʃ ər /
noun
usher
1
British
/ ˈʌʃə /
noun
-
an official who shows people to their seats, as in a church or theatre
-
a person who acts as doorkeeper, esp in a court of law
-
(in England) a minor official charged with maintaining order in a court of law
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an officer responsible for preceding persons of rank in a procession or introducing strangers at formal functions
-
obsolete a teacher
verb
-
to conduct or escort, esp in a courteous or obsequious way
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(usually foll by in) to be a precursor or herald (of)
Usher
2
British
/ ˈʌʃə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ushersimple
-
usherssimple
-
have usheredperfect
-
has usheredperfect
-
am usheringprogressive
-
are usheringprogressive
-
is usheringprogressive
-
have been usheringperfect progressive
-
has been usheringperfect progressive
Past
-
usheredsimple
-
had usheredperfect
-
was usheringprogressive
-
were usheringprogressive
-
had been usheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of usher
1350–1400; Middle English uscher doorkeeper < Anglo-French usser, Old French ( h ) uissier doorman, officer of justice < Vulgar Latin *ustiārius, equivalent to Latin ōsti ( um ) door + -ārius -ary; see -er 2
Explanation
That guy who guided you to your seat? He's called an usher. You most often see ushers at movie theaters and weddings. An usher is someone with the job of helping people find their seats. At the movies, ushers take your tickets and tell you where to go. At some theaters and sports venues, the ushers might actually take you to your seat — they usher you there. If you're an usher in a wedding party, it's your job to walk guests down the aisle and to their seats. The doorkeeper at a courtroom or legislative chamber is called an usher, too.
Vocabulary lists containing usher
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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:
The hottest conditions will be concentrated on Wednesday before a weather front moving through on Thursday will usher in fresher air, bringing a noticeable change in feel.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Infantino sprinted across the stage and appeared to attempt to usher Trump out of frame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Celebrities like Emma Grede have helped usher this parenting style into the broader culture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Over a century ago, when the Supreme Court helped usher in Jim Crow, Justice John Marshall Harlan took his colleagues to task for betraying the promise of Reconstruction.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
As the guides usher me into a row, I scan the crowd around me and try to match up some of these people with their Warcross personas.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
In 1999, Usher dropped $1.2 million on another home in Georgia.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
For days when Usher needs to blow off some steam, he need only head to the basketball court or the custom yoga deck.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
BBC correspondent Barbara Plett Usher, reporting from Jerusalem, examines the latest tensions over the key international shipping channel.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The joint venture’s roster exploded with hits from TLC, Usher, Outkast and Pink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
He was, after all, the one who’d saved Clare from an afterlife of Pain, by offering him this chance to serve as Usher.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Every day, diligent ushers stood like bouncers at the court's heavy, soundproof doors.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
The formal declaration of Fujimori's win brings one of Peru's tightest leadership contests of all time to a close and ushers in the Andean nation's ninth president in a decade.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
It was a blur of champagne, full sized In-N-Out cheeseburgers, chic ushers wearing Dior uniforms with snug grey sweaters and slacks that pooled perfectly at the leg.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
The new year ushers in bigger paychecks for many workers — but those wage increases may not feel so impressive as prices also increase.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 6, 2026
The building has fake balconies and street lamps, and the ushers dress in black berets and striped shirts.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Its design ushered in a very different approach to disability support – by providing people with funding based on their individual needs, and a certain amount of freedom to choose how to spend it.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Elsewhere in the fenced-off city, Spanish soldiers ushered hundreds of other migrants, mostly young men and youths, through Ceuta's palm-lined streets to the border to return to Morocco.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
The Jim Crow Era ushered in a new kind of slavery but eventually galvanized Congress to establish some of its most impactful legislation, in the VRA and the Civil Rights Act.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The interim period ushered in relative stability in trade policy as officials crafted a new set of levies to replace it—a welcome relief for trade-reliant firms buffeted by constant policy shifts over the past year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Pride surged in their chests as they were ushered in and seated before the desks of well-dressed black men and women who asked them questions about their experience and provided leads on jobs.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
He’s uniquely responsible for ushering in an age of barbarism and will spend the rest of his life making amends in the fallen world he helped create.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces calls for his departure from over 80 Labour Party lawmakers, potentially ushering in the U.K.’s sixth prime minister in seven years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Sweltering weather will descend on much of California over the next few days, possibly ushering in temperatures deeper into the triple digits earlier than ever for some areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
Every Friday night, Derek and many other Jews across the world mark the end of the week by ushering in the start of the Jewish sabbath - Shabbat.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
He had more than a year left before college, but Sean was ushering him out the door, like he couldn’t wait for Finn to go.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
