valet

American  

[va-ley, val-it, val-ey] / væˈleɪ, ˈvæl ɪt, ˈvæl eɪ /

noun

• valets
  plural

1. a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his male employer, as by taking care of clothing or the like; manservant.

2. a man who is employed for cleaning and pressing, laundering, and similar services for patrons of a hotel, passengers on a ship, etc.

3. an attendant who parks cars for patrons at a hotel, restaurant, etc.

4. a stand or rack for holding coats, hats, etc.

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verb (used with or without object)

• valets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• valeted,
  past participle,  past
• valeting
  present participle

1. to serve as a valet.

valet British  

/ ˈvæleɪ, ˈvælɪt /

noun

1. French name: valet de chambre.  a manservant who acts as personal attendant to his employer, looking after his clothing, serving his meals, etc

2. a manservant who attends to the requirements of patrons in a hotel, passengers on board ship, etc; steward

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verb

1. to act as a valet for (a person)

2. (tr) to clean the bodywork and interior of (a car) as a professional service

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unvaleted
  adjective
• valetless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• valets
  plural

Participles

• valeting
  present
• valeted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• valet
  simple
• valets
  simple
• have valeted
  perfect
• has valeted
  perfect
• am valeting
  progressive
• are valeting
  progressive
• is valeting
  progressive
• have been valeting
  perfect progressive
• has been valeting
  perfect progressive

Past

• valeted
  simple
• had valeted
  perfect
• was valeting
  progressive
• were valeting
  progressive
• had been valeting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will valet
  simple
• will have valeted
  perfect
• will be valeting
  progressive
• will have been valeting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of valet

1560–70; < French; Middle French va ( s ) let squire, equivalent to vas- (< Medieval Latin vassus servant) + -let -let; see vassal

Explanation

A valet is like a butler: a servant who attends to his employer's needs. A valet is a personal attendant to his employer, who might run errands, clean, cook, drive, or perform other tasks as needed. A valet works very closely with his employer and might even live on the premises. If you go to a fancy restaurant or hotel, you might have a valet park your car — but don't expect him to do your laundry!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

valet valets valeted valeting

He served as a White House military valet to the president in his first term, and later joined him as an assistant at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after he left office.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Christos, a valet at a major Athens hotel, was more irritated.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

It had a waterfall in the lobby, a pool on the roof, valet parking and all sorts of other conveniences.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

Marchand, who danced down the aisle to Kendrick Lamar at his own wedding, serves as a kind of valet turned therapist turned fixer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

His valet fed him one last spoonful of supper and dabbed his chins.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

The valets in the lobby summon golf carts with a flick of the wrist, graciously driving me back and forth from the parking lot.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026

Instead, he plowed money into services such as ski valets, who wear yellow jackets and help guests carry their gear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

"From valets to duchesses, from three-piece suits to the Roaring Twenties, there is something for every taste," it boasts on its website.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

Poker girls are officially described as waitresses, and are hired along with other staff like bartenders, chefs and parking valets to work at poker parties in private homes.

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025

But then, of course, I hasten to add, there are many valets who would never dream of indulging in this sort of folly - who are, in fact, professionals of the highest discernment.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Besides having a lovely meal, I valeted my car with ease, which allowed me to stroll down the block for a post-dinner constitutional without having to remember which public garage I parked in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2023

But he only checked the ticket on 2 February after finding it when he had to clear his car out before it was valeted.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2023

There was plenty of street parking on Thursday night outside of Il Bacco Italian restaurant in Little Neck, Queens, but we valeted the car anyway.

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2023

Garage parking in Manhattan is almost universally valeted, which, on the one hand, provides some measure of security — but also evokes the valet joyride scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

From The Verge ● Jul. 26, 2015

Both she and Mr. Tart took immense pains with his clothes, and he would rather have been well valeted than eat luxurious luncheons every day.

From Great Possessions by Mrs. Wilfrid Ward

They also outlined plans for investment in more EV charging points, as well as the offer in the forecourts around food-to-go and valeting services.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2024

Instead, Saleh recalled shoveling snow and valeting cars for the actual guests.

From Fox News ● Dec. 2, 2021

Liu and Awkwafina effortlessly riff off each other about the struggles of being the children of Asian and immigrant parents with high expectations, and often defend the valiant, underappreciated profession of valeting.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2021

Maybe that’s what angels do, valeting their wings at the end of a hard day’s flight.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 31, 2018

Forsyth exclaimed, remembering certain blood-curdling stories of his uncle's old orderly, who had exchanged the fierce joys of Thug-hunting for the milder enjoyment of valeting his beloved Sahib in Belgravia.

From The Duke Decides by Headon Hill

Related Words

• attendant
• servant