Meaning & use
domestique
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablespecialistsport
A professional cyclist whose job is to help a team leader win, rather than to win races personally.
Grammar: Countable: a domestique, two domestiques.
Patterns
- ride as a domestique
- a domestique for someone
- a loyal domestique
He spent five seasons as a domestique for a star sprinter.
The team's domestiques set a hard pace on the final climb.
Without his domestiques, the leader would have been left alone too early.
nouncountableold-fashionedrare
In historical use, a household servant or personal attendant.
Grammar: Countable and now old-fashioned; mostly found in older texts.
Patterns
- a faithful domestique
The old house once employed several domestiques.
In the novel, a domestique answers the door and announces the guests.
Word forms
| plural | domestiques |
|---|
Common combinations
- ride as a domestique
- She chose to ride as a domestique rather than chase personal results.
- loyal domestique
- The team praised its most loyal domestique.
- domestique role
- The domestique role rarely brings headlines but decides many races.
- a domestique for a team leader
- He was a domestique for a team leader in the Tour.
Synonyms and how they differ
- support rider
- The plain English term with the same cycling meaning, and the better choice outside specialist writing.
- helper
- Much more general; it does not carry the specific professional cycling sense.
Opposites
Commonly confused: domestique or domestic?
domestique vs domestic
Domestic means 'relating to the home or to one country'; domestique is a French cycling term and is pronounced differently.
Practice
In professional cycling, what is a domestique?
Choose one answer.
'Domestique' refers to a rider whose main job is supporting a team leader. Coaches, mechanics, and time-trial specialists are different roles, so the other options do not fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “domestique”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.