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

• maid

Examples of housekeeper in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

If enacted, the wage mandate would affect thousands of workers in San Diego, from hotel housekeepers to ballpark ticket takers and zookeepers, some of whom would see their hourly pay rise by as much as 45% from the city’s current minimum wage of $17.25 an hour. —Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2025

Actresses mentioned in the running included Judith Anderson (the housekeeper in Hitchcock’s Rebecca) and Helen Hayes. —Marc Berman, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025

When her mother didn’t believe her, the housekeeper quit. —Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 13 June 2025

After a six-episode run on ER in 2004, Victor landed her longest TV run as housekeeper Lupita in Weeds, which ran from 2005-2012. —Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 2 June 2025

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