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
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Recent Examples of retainer
The School Board will have to vote again to approve a retainer agreement after it's worked out by the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office, which generally handles MPS' legal matters.
—
Rory Linnane, jsonline.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Then their families have to put a retainer on an attorney, and they get put on a plane to Texas, where the detention continues.
—Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
In a more porous era, he might have been kept on lavish retainer by a Medici.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
The retainer was for $50,000 a month.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for retainer
Rory Linnane, jsonline.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Then their families have to put a retainer on an attorney, and they get put on a plane to Texas, where the detention continues.
—Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
In a more porous era, he might have been kept on lavish retainer by a Medici.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
The retainer was for $50,000 a month.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for retainer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retainer
Noun
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News reports gleefully described his six houses, his sixteen Chinese servants, his lavish parties, his $2,000 cashmere suits, and his twelve cars—one of which was a champagne-pink Cadillac with his name splashed across the side in neon lights.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
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That conceptual tension has led early users to experience agentic AI as a sort of bossy servant.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
And all were linked to individuals in Argentina with modest financial backgrounds—a pharmacy employee, a shop worker, a bankrupt businessman—people with no visible connection to multimillion-dollar financial operations.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
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The employees of Rockin’ Grandma’s roam the grounds of the retreat site, which boasts multiple structures, and are visited by a series of guest speakers whose lectures range from the merely dull to the truly Dada.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Jol just wants to be an artist on the continent with his soul mate, the former lady’s maid.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
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Beetz stars as Asia, a young woman who turns up on the stoop of a high-end Manhattan apartment building, the Virgil, answering an ad for a maid job.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This time, however, travelers are already facing long lines and delays due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, which has left thousands of TSA workers without pay.—
De'Anthony Taylor,
Baltimore Sun,
28 Mar. 2026
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Fatalities data, the group says, is based on a range of sources, including sources among medical workers, publicly available images and official statements.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Retainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retainer. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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