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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 But, shoppers without a glam team on retainer are impressed, too. — Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 25 June 2026 Gold acts more as a retainer of wealth, not a vehicle for serious growth or profits. — Aly J Yale, CBS News, 11 June 2026 Do the Blue Jackets have a sports psychologist on staff or on retainer? — Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 5 June 2026 Fee-only compensation can take a number of forms, including hourly, retainer or flat fees or a percentage of assets the advisor manages for the client. — Liz Weston, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for retainer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retainer
  1. servant
  2. employee
  3. maid
  4. worker
Noun
  • Damon leads Christopher Nolan’s epic as Odysseus, while Leguizamo plays the hero’s faithful blind servant, Eumaeus.
    — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 30 July 2026
  • The plot involves two sons of rich, miserly fathers in love with girls their fathers will never approve of and what happens when the fathers’ devious servants decide to give the boys a hand.
    — Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026
Definition of servant
Noun
  • The order is opposed by unions representing state workers, who argue employees will foot the cost of Newsom’s mandate, through expenses like gas and parking.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • That’s the Dollar General employee turned tryout football player turned military student turned statistical anomaly in him.
    — Nate Atkins, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of employee
Noun
  • Based on Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel, the sequel picks up as Sweeney’s Millie, who works as a live-in maid for wealthy families, takes a new job — this time keeping house for a woman she’s never allowed to see.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • If Lizzie is Cinderella, then actor Vicky Krieps’s Bridget Sullivan, the Bordens’ live-in maid, is her fairy godmother.
    — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of maid
Noun
  • Search and rescue efforts included nearby residents, emergency services, healthcare workers, security personnel and an expert team from the local disaster prevention office, per the BBC.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old migrant being held at the Delaney Hall detention center, was pronounced dead on Saturday by medical workers at University Hospital in Newark, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Monday.
    — Alex Stambaugh, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 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 8 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on retainer

Nglish: Translation of retainer for Spanish Speakers

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