stewardship

noun

stew·​ard·​ship ˈstü-ərd-ˌship 

ˈstyü-;

ˈst(y)u̇rd-

1

: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care

stewardship of natural resources

Across the globe, hotels like this one are embracing sustainable and purposeful landscape designs as part of a broader commitment to environmental stewardship.

—Christine Chitnis

Under Moore's stewardship the store coasted along on its own momentum until the stock market crash of 1929.

—Hudson Bridges (Jay Jacobs)

2

: the office, duties, and obligations of a steward

Did you know?

Good Stewardship

When stewardship first appeared in English during the Middle Ages, it functioned as a job description, denoting the office of a steward, or manager of a large household. Over the centuries, its range of reference spread to the oversight of law courts, employee unions, college dining halls, Masonic lodges, and many other organizations. In recent years, the long-established "management" sense of stewardship has evolved a positive meaning, “careful and responsible management.” This sense is commonly found nowadays in contexts such as “stewardship of the environment, the family business,” etc. It also occasionally appears as an adjective in phrases such as “stewardship fundraising" (that is, fundraising aimed at building good relationships with donors in order to keep them loyal).

Synonyms of stewardship

• management
• supervision
• handling
• administration
• operation
• control
• oversight
• governance
• government
• direction

Examples of stewardship in a Sentence

generally the dean left the day-to-day stewardship of the college to the assistant dean

she believes that stewardship of the environment is everyone's responsibility

Recent Examples on the Web

And that may be true, but that gift did not, from my point of view, manifest itself in his stewardship of the Post. —Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026

Ninety years later, the rise of knowledge work ushered in EQ, which was needed for new types of jobs that involved less doing and more stewardship. —Big Think, 3 Feb. 2026

At the start of Pat Riley’s Heat stewardship in 1995, the question — with the Heat not having won anything since their 1988 inception — was whether something as mundane as a divisional banner ever would hang above the Heat’s court. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 31 Jan. 2026

Under the $80 billion private equity firm’s stewardship, Applied has grown from more than 1,500 employees in 2018 to over 2,800 today and now operates in seven countries. —John Hyatt, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for stewardship

• authorship
• battleship
• censorship
• chairmanship
• chieftainship
• comradeship
• consulship
• craftsmanship
• dealership
• draftsmanship
• fellowship
• fingertip

Kids Definition

stewardship

noun

stew·​ard·​ship ˈst(y)ü-ərd-ˌship 

ˈst(y)u̇(-ə)rd-

1

: the office and duties of a steward

2

: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care

stewardship of our natural resources