1
as in custodians
a person who takes care of a property sometimes for an absent owner
got a job as the night janitor at the elementary school
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in porters
a person who tends a door
according to popular Christian tradition, St. Peter acts as janitor at heaven's pearly gates
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of janitors
The same workers who keep this country running every single day—home care aides, teachers, bus drivers and janitors who can’t afford to get sick.
—
Linda Goler Blount, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
Think janitors all the way up to the CEOs that make a hospital hum.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Oct. 2025
Qing Yuan had seen many of these tiny corpses, pinkish, yellowish, tin-gray, curled up, always seemingly asleep, tossed by janitors into fires outside the building.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Low-wage service workers, including cleaners, janitors, security guards, cafeteria workers and other staffers who keep buildings operating, are often out of luck.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
The great quarterbacks are janitors for organizational messes, smoothing over the cracks and making a bad team look competent for three hours.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
The Teamsters union includes cooks and other food service workers, as well as groundskeepers, janitors, parking attendants, maintenance workers, mechanics and more.
—Emma McNamee, Twin Cities, 9 Sep. 2025
And there is good reason companies still employ janitors to sweep floors despite the invention of the Roomba and commercial versions of robotic sweepers like Avidbots’ Neo.
—Will Yakowicz, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Linda Goler Blount, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
Think janitors all the way up to the CEOs that make a hospital hum.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Oct. 2025
Qing Yuan had seen many of these tiny corpses, pinkish, yellowish, tin-gray, curled up, always seemingly asleep, tossed by janitors into fires outside the building.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Low-wage service workers, including cleaners, janitors, security guards, cafeteria workers and other staffers who keep buildings operating, are often out of luck.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
The great quarterbacks are janitors for organizational messes, smoothing over the cracks and making a bad team look competent for three hours.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
The Teamsters union includes cooks and other food service workers, as well as groundskeepers, janitors, parking attendants, maintenance workers, mechanics and more.
—Emma McNamee, Twin Cities, 9 Sep. 2025
And there is good reason companies still employ janitors to sweep floors despite the invention of the Roomba and commercial versions of robotic sweepers like Avidbots’ Neo.
—Will Yakowicz, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for janitors
Noun
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Onuba counseled now is the time to take another page from PE, which is their operating partner model, where operating partners sit between management and assets, thereby becoming custodians for the post asset-value integration.—
Jennifer Weil,
Footwear News,
4 Nov. 2025
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Ahuja noted that institutional infrastructure for bitcoin—custodians, liquidity providers, and banks—has matured significantly over the past several years, creating greater stability.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Best known as Travelers Rest’s first craft brewery, this spot is a local favorite popular for its world-class selection of beers, with everything from pale ales to porters.—
Symiah Dorsey,
Southern Living,
4 Jan. 2026
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Meanwhile, the porters, who'd carried all of the 60 Minutes gear up the mountain, had already made it to Base Camp and were headed back down, on to their next job.—
Cecilia Vega,
CBS News,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The team’s first four 2025 draft picks look like keepers.—
Zac Jackson,
New York Times,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Orangutans sometimes spend weeks finding the necessary materials (wires, bolts, screws), hiding their elaborate preparations from their keepers, and awaiting the perfect moment to execute their plans.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Forest wardens walk into Kyebi Forest Reserve in the East Akim Municipal district in Ghana.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
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The Clermont County Animal Shelter took possession of the animals after they were recovered by the wardens.—
Matthew Cupelli,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Her death devastated her supporters and caretakers.—
Colbi Edmonds,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 Jan. 2026
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At her home day care, Rodriguez employs a group of teachers and caretakers who are, for the most part, either in their twenties and childless or else parents with at least one child enrolled in the day care.—
Lauren Hilgers,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Janitors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/janitors. Accessed 7 Jan. 2026.
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