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
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Recent Examples of retainer
Commercial products may be labeled as water retainers or penetrants.
—
Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 16 Aug. 2025
He was paid a $4,000 monthly retainer in the 2022-23 school year and continues to contract with the school.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2025
One demanded a $5,000 retainer, another was unable to assist outside of asylum law, and the third pressured them for payment during the initial consultation.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 July 2025
Fast forward to getting my braces off in junior year to starting my first year in college: my retainer didn’t fit correctly, and my teeth began to shift slightly, resulting in the return of my gap.
—Larry Stansbury, Essence, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for retainer
Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 16 Aug. 2025
He was paid a $4,000 monthly retainer in the 2022-23 school year and continues to contract with the school.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2025
One demanded a $5,000 retainer, another was unable to assist outside of asylum law, and the third pressured them for payment during the initial consultation.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 July 2025
Fast forward to getting my braces off in junior year to starting my first year in college: my retainer didn’t fit correctly, and my teeth began to shift slightly, resulting in the return of my gap.
—Larry Stansbury, Essence, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for retainer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retainer
Noun
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He was inspired by an early scene from the TV show, when the estate’s staff hosted a servant’s ball at Christmastime.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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Since 2010, fans have followed the family of the Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), and their servants through six television seasons and three films.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Al Jazeera employees even reportedly work with the terrorist group to identify protesters.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP What To Know The Secret Service has launched an internal review into the screening failure on August 31, and the employee responsible for searching the guest's bag has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of that review, the agency said.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Chastain portrayed Celia Foote in the drama based on Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name about a white journalist chronicling the lives of Black maids working for white households in 1960s Mississippi.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ella Beaty will play Lizzie, while Rebecca Hall will play Lizzie’s stepmother, Abby, and Vicky Krieps will play Bridget Sullvan, a maid in the Borden household.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Rural farmers could receive payments, urban workers could send money home and millions joined the formal economy for the first time.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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It’s gotten so bad that, in one of the largest H-2A criminal cases ever, a federal judge described the abuse of these workers as a form of modern-day slavery.—
Max Blau,
ProPublica,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retainer. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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