adviser

noun

ad·​vis·​er əd-ˈvī-zər 

variants or advisor

: someone who gives advice

a financial/investment adviser

She was not signing on as a domestic or foreign-policy adviser …

—Peggy Noonan

In this meeting, Clifford, who had been a senior Truman aide and an adviser to Kennedy, used George Ball's memorandums in pleading that the war could not be won.

—Sidney Blumenthal

In December, she and her thesis advisor, Neal Evans, used the camera, attached to a 50-inch telescope, to look for infant stars in a giant molecular cloud in the constellation Orion.

—Andrew Chaikin

In a real sense, the emperor's astronomical ministers functioned like advisors in a modern president's cabinet, advising him on how best to conduct the affairs of state in a harmonious and effective manner.

—Laurence A. Marschall

Did you know?

What's the difference between adviser and advisor?

Adviser or advisor? It doesn't matter what your computer's spellcheck tells you, adviser and advisor are both correct. Although there is enough overlap between these two words that they are generally considered simply to be different ways to spell the same word, there are some cases in which one tends to be used more often than the other. Some people feel that advisor is more formal, and it tends to be found more often when applied to official positions, such as an advisor to a president. When referring to someone who is serving in a military role, especially when using the term as a euphemism (as when claiming that troops are actually military advisers), then adviser is somewhat more common.

Synonyms of adviser

• consultant

Examples of adviser in a Sentence

our financial adviser had some words of caution about buying a second home

Recent Examples on the Web

Paul Dano is spin doctor and adviser Vadim Baranov, a fictitious character loosely inspired by real-life Russian politician Vladislav Surkov. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 15 May 2026

Audio from the trial was broadcast live on YouTube, and during the trial’s second week, lawyers for Musk asked to have the audio turned off during the testimony of Shivon Zilis, a longtime Musk adviser who is also the mother of four of his children and a romantic partner of Musk. —David Ingram, NBC news, 15 May 2026

If that’s true, then AI has become a more popular financial adviser than actual financial advisers. —Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 15 May 2026

In April, as reported, Fabrizio Freda, the former longtime CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies, was appointed special strategic adviser by Ferragamo Finanziaria SpA, the holding company of the Ferragamo family and the controlling shareholder of the fashion group. —Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 14 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

advise + -er entry 2, -or entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1536, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for adviser

• advisor
• devisor
• divisor
• franchisor
• incisor
• quantizer
• reviser
• revisor
• advertiser
• analyser
• analyzer
• appetizer