a person charged with the care or custody of persons, animals, or things; keeper.
the chief administrative officer in charge of a prison.
any of various public officials charged with superintendence, as over a port or wildlife.
(in Connecticut) the chief executive officer of a borough.
(formerly) the principal official in a region, town, etc.
British.
(initial capital letter) a traditional title of the president or governor of certain schools and colleges.
Warden of Merton College.
a member of a livery company of the City of London.
Canadian. the head of certain county or local councils.
a member of the governing body of a guild.
a churchwarden.
a gatekeeper.
a person who has the charge or care of something, esp a building, or someone
any of various public officials, esp one responsible for the enforcement of certain regulations
a person employed to patrol a national park or safari park
the chief officer in charge of a prison
the principal or president of any of various universities or colleges
See churchwarden
1175–1225; Middle English wardein < Old French (northeast dial.), equivalent to ward- (root of warder to guard; see ward) + -ein, variant of -ien, -enc < Germanic -ing -ing 3
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English wardoun, wardon(e); of uncertain origin; perhaps from Anglo-French or Anglo-Latin wardō (inflectional stem wardōn-)
The person who works at a jail as the boss of all the prison guards is called the warden. A warden's job is to manage a prison — so while she may be uniformed and armed like a guard, her actual tasks may look more like a desk job. The noun warden has traditionally been used to talk about someone in an official supervisory position, especially in British English, but the prison guard definition goes back to the early thirteenth century, when it meant "one who guards." The root is the Old English word weard, "a watchman or sentry."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
McCaslin said she wanted to reach a workable solution with the warden, saying, “I want him to have his discovery. He’s entitled to it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Officials at the Federal Reserve watch long-run inflation expectations closely, because higher expected inflation could be a sign the central bank is losing credibility as a warden of stable prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Prosecutor Helen Tench said the assault had a "detrimental impact" on the traffic warden.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
Don Phillips, head waterfowl warden, said it was not the first time nests had been lost.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026
Exactly what the warden said never to do.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Northrop Grumman NOC -1.24%decrease; red down pointing triangle logged a jump in profit and higher sales in the first quarter, amid what Chief Executive Kathy Warden called an unprecedented global demand environment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Results underscored “our ability to deliver in today’s unprecedented global demand environment,” said CEO Kathy Warden in a news release.
From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026
“AI search is inextricably linked to user-generated content, what people are saying about your brand,” says Andrew Warden, chief marketing officer at Semrush.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Warden added that the defense contractor’s 2025 forecast included some delays to program awards, but that the company was assuming the government could find a way to reopen by roughly the middle of November.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2025
One of his brothers had a drum set, and the Warden okayed PJ.’s owning a large aquarium.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were both fire wardens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The new wardens of a tiny island with only a handful of human inhabitants say moving there full-time has been a "dream come true".
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
In 2024, the couple began working on the island as assistant wardens, which involved seasonal work between March and October.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
But in October 2025, Bardsey Island Trust advertised for full-time wardens to live on the island year round.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
What if she wanders off and gets caught by the game wardens?
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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.
