housekeeper

noun

house·​keep·​er ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-pər 

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

• maid

Examples of housekeeper in a Sentence

they hired a housekeeper to help their aging parents live at home

Recent Examples on the Web

The singer, 37, was set to take the stand in the case brought against him by his housekeeper, who alleged one of Brown's dogs mauled her sister in 2020. —Liza Esquibias, USA Today, 16 June 2026

Some families even bring their housekeepers, presumably to clean up all of the empty soy sauce packets. —Brendan Cosgrove, Fortune, 15 June 2026

The original series starred Tony Danza as a former baseball player who takes a job as a housekeeper for a career woman and single mom (Judith Light), and moves into her home with his teen daughter, Sam, played by Alyssa Milano. —Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026

Transposing the book onto a contemporary setting, Jude’s take centers on an impoverished Romanian migrant, Gianina, played by a sensational Ana Dumitrașcu, who finds work as a housekeeper and au pair for a smugly bourgeois-bohemian couple living in Bordeaux. —Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 11 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1528, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for housekeeper

• beekeeper
• bookkeeper
• doorkeeper
• gamekeeper
• gatekeeper
• goalkeeper
• innkeeper
• minesweeper
• peacekeeper
• shopkeeper
• storekeeper
• timekeeper

Kids Definition

housekeeper

noun

house·​keep·​er ˈhau̇-ˌskē-pər 

: a person employed to take care of a house