housekeeper

noun

house·​keep·​er ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-pər How to pronounce housekeeper (audio)
Synonyms of housekeepernext
1
: one employed to manage the domestic duties involved in maintaining a house
2
: a member of a household who manages the domestic duties of the household
She was her father's housekeeper …—Lucy Maud Montgomery
especially : one who keeps house in a specified way
was always a good/poor housekeeper
… a tidy housekeeper who kept flowers outside his unit … —Kyle Swenson

Synonyms of housekeeper

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Examples of housekeeper in a Sentence

they hired a housekeeper to help their aging parents live at home
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
To try that one, the salesperson first had to turn down the covers for us like a mother with her children or a housekeeper in a fancy hotel. — Jaklin Romine oct. 15, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 In a testament to its authenticity, one of the hotel’s housekeepers trashed part of the installation. — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 15 Oct. 2026 When his son suddenly turns up alive and well, Mark and his psychiatrist wife, Abigail (Kerry Washington), realize that the kidnapper accidentally took the child of Ramón (Luis Gerardo Méndez), their housekeeper’s undocumented day-laborer boyfriend. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026 Everyone from the front-desk employees to the housekeepers to the yoga instructors were helpful and attentive. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for housekeeper

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1528, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of housekeeper was circa 1528

Rhymes for housekeeper

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Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Housekeeper.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/housekeeper. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Kids Definition

housekeeper

noun
house·​keep·​er ˈhau̇-ˌskē-pər How to pronounce housekeeper (audio)
: a person employed to take care of a house
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