retainer

noun

ri-ˈtā-nər How to pronounce retainer (audio)
Definition of retainernext
1
as in servant
a person hired to perform household or personal services knights being dressed for battle by their retainers

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in employee
one who works for another for wages or a salary lifelong civil service retainers

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of retainer Not everyone can afford a law firm’s pricey retainer or hourly rate when a legal issue comes up. — Jasmin Suknanan, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2026 Under the agreement, Drake Ventures will receive a $65,000 monthly retainer, payable in quarterly installments of $195,000, amounting to $780,000 a year. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026 If an owner decides to sell, Baton runs the process for a monthly retainer and a success fee. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026 Mark Lewis, Founder of Netalico, an e-commerce agency specializing in migrations, CRO, and retainers for mid-market and enterprise brands. — Mark Lewis, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for retainer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retainer
  1. servant
  2. employee
  3. maid
  4. worker
Noun
  • The remains of these servants, or retainers, were first excavated from the funerary complexes at Abydos, eastern Egypt, which date from around 3000 BC, in the 1920s.
    — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Astonishingly, a servant’s wages amounted to only $3,750 to $4,500 per year.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of servant
Noun
  • Such a promise needs to be written down, with a way for employees to challenge a broken commitment.
    — Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • In an interview with Inside Edition on Tuesday, store owner Adam Rubin said that his store has been review-bombed since Clarkson took to social media and named the store, and employees and surrounding businesses have been harassed.
    — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of employee
Noun
  • Adelaide said, with a vehemence that frightened Masha, the maid trying to spoon medicine into her clenched mouth.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
  • This is the kind of show where an opulent tea party is dramatized not just by many different plates of fancy pastries, fancy wreaths and lots of furniture, but by having all that stuff carted in by a dozen or so butlers, maids and other servants.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of maid
Noun
  • As part of orchestrating this project, Simon was also involved in securing visas for the various international performers, encountering in the process the uneven access to travel for cultural workers across classes, nationalities, and milieus.
    — Stephanie Wambugu, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The headman is compromised, an NGO in the area is pursuing its own politics, and the man running the mine discloses that Nengsal was never on the books, leaving workers like him invisible on their own land.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of worker

Browse Nearby Words

retained
retainer
retainers
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Cite this Entry

“Retainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retainer. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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