housekeeper

housekeeper — noun

1. someone who is paid to do the cleaning, cooking, and other everyday tasks needed

1.nounB1
Definition

someone who is paid to do the cleaning, cooking, and other everyday tasks needed to keep a home in good order.

Example

The housekeeper, Ms. Lan Chen, comes every Tuesday to clean and cook.

appositive naming convention with title

Mert found a job as a housekeeper for a young family in the city.

pattern: works / found a job as a housekeeper

Common collocations
  • hire a housekeeper
  • work as a housekeeper
  • part-time housekeeper
  • live-in housekeeper
  • hotel housekeeper
Synonyms
  • maid

    more restricted to cleaning and tidying; sounds slightly old-fashioned in many English-speaking regions

  • domestic helper

    broader term common in Asian English; can include childcare and other duties beyond cleaning and cooking

  • cleaner

    narrower meaning; only responsible for cleaning, not cooking or household management

Usage Note

Also commonly used for hotel cleaning staff, although hotel housekeepers typically focus on room cleaning rather than cooking or household management.

Common Mistakes

We need a cleaner to cook dinner for us.
We need a housekeeper who can also cook dinner.
A 'cleaner' focuses only on cleaning; a 'housekeeper' can manage cooking and other domestic tasks.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe people who do cleaning work, but they differ in scope. A 'housekeeper' typically manages multiple household tasks — cooking, cleaning, shopping, and organising — and may supervise other staff. A 'maid' focuses mainly on cleaning and tidying bedrooms and bathrooms, and the term can feel old-fashioned or class-specific. A 'cleaner' does only cleaning (floors, windows, surfaces) and is not expected to cook or organise the household. A 'domestic helper' is the most general term, common in official and Asian English contexts, and can cover cleaning, cooking, childcare, and elderly care. For example: 'Their housekeeper plans the weekly menu and does the grocery shopping,' but 'Their cleaner comes every Friday to wash the floors and windows.'

maid ↗cleaner ↗domestic helper

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • work as a housekeeper
  • hire a housekeeper

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed by combining 'house' (from Old English 'hūs', a shelter or dwelling) with 'keeper' (from the verb 'keep', Old English 'cēpan', meaning to watch over or take care of). The word first appeared in the 1400s and literally meant 'one who keeps a house.' Over time it became the standard term for a paid worker managing domestic duties in a private home.