Meaning & use
caregiver
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
Someone, paid or unpaid, who looks after a person who is ill, old, disabled or very young.
Grammar: Countable: a caregiver, two caregivers.
Patterns
- caregiver for someone
- caregiver to someone
She became the main caregiver for her grandmother.
A caregiver visits the old man every morning.
Many caregivers are never paid for their work.
nouncountabletechnical
The adult who is mainly responsible for raising and protecting a child.
Grammar: Often used in child development and social work.
Patterns
- primary caregiver
Babies bond with their primary caregiver.
The nurse asked the caregiver for the child's history.
A caregiver need not be a parent.
Word forms
| plural | caregivers |
|---|
Common combinations
- primary caregiver
- Her mother is her primary caregiver.
- family caregiver
- A family caregiver often has no day off.
- full-time caregiver
- He works as a full-time caregiver.
- caregiver burnout
- Caregiver burnout is a real risk.
- caregiver support
- The clinic offers caregiver support.
Synonyms and how they differ
- carer
- Carer is the usual British word, while caregiver is more common in American English.
- nurse
- A nurse has medical training, but a caregiver may be a family member with no qualification.
- guardian
- A guardian has legal responsibility for someone, while a caregiver gives daily help.
- attendant
- An attendant assists with specific tasks in a place, while a caregiver looks after general needs.
Word family
Commonly confused: caregiver or caretaker?
caregiver vs caretaker
In British English a caretaker looks after a building, and in American English a caretaker may look after property or a person, so caregiver is clearer for people.
Practice
Maria quit her job to be a full-time ___ for her father.
Choose one answer.
A caregiver looks after a sick or elderly relative. A landlord or tutor does a different job.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “caregiver”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.