plural proctors
: someone who supervises or monitors students:
a
US
: someone who oversees student examinations
The primary job of the proctor is to monitor students to ensure they're following testing room rules and not sharing answers.—
Arika Harron
Arika HarronIf a test proctor isn't following protocol, or test-takers haven't been given the correct amount of time, results can be skewed.—Alizah Salario
Alizah Salario
b
British
: an officer at a university who is responsible especially for disciplinary measures
At night proctors patrolled the street and dogged your steps if you tried to go into any haunt where the presence of vice was suspected.—Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler
proctor
verb, transitive + intransitive
proctored; proctoring; proctors
proctor an exam
Some of the teachers volunteered to proctor.
see also proctorial, proctorship
Examples of proctor in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
At the time of the test, Reuters reported people experiencing internet outages in official examination rooms and proctor disruptions.
—Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
The test proctor told them they were being locked down at the center because of the shooting, according to the AP.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
The College Board blamed the lack of availability on host schools unwilling to staff and run weekend test centers, but others pointed to low pay for proctors and schools ditching the testing requirement.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 16 July 2024
The actress, 62, was sentenced to 14 days in prison after pleading guilty to paying $15,000 to have a proctor change her and Macy’s daughter Sophia’s answers on her SAT test.
—Natalia Senanayake, People.com, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for proctor
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.
Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
The test proctor told them they were being locked down at the center because of the shooting, according to the AP.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
The College Board blamed the lack of availability on host schools unwilling to staff and run weekend test centers, but others pointed to low pay for proctors and schools ditching the testing requirement.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 16 July 2024
The actress, 62, was sentenced to 14 days in prison after pleading guilty to paying $15,000 to have a proctor change her and Macy’s daughter Sophia’s answers on her SAT test.
—Natalia Senanayake, People.com, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for proctor
Cite this Entry
“Proctor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proctor. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
proctor
noun
proc·tor
ˈpräk-tər 
: a person who supervises students during an examination
proctor
verb
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share