Meanings
chauffeur1
plural chauffeurs
- A person employed to drive a private motor car or a hired car of executive or luxury class (like a limousine).
I can make money from the comfort of my sofa / So much drive, now I gotta get a chauffeur
2024, “Hot One”, in King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 (Hip Hop), performed by Denzel Curry, African-American Vernacular English2 more examples
He fell into a reverie, a most dangerous state of mind for a chauffeur, since a fall into reverie on the part of a driver may mean a fall into a ravine on the part of the machine.
1913, Robert Barr, chapter 3, in Lord Stranleigh AbroadSuper Nintendo, Sega Genesis When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this 50-inch screen, money-green leather sofa Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur
1994, 2:40 from the start, in Juicy (Hip Hop), spoken by The Notorious B.I.G., African-American Vernacular English
present singular third person chauffeurs · participle present chauffeuring · participle past chauffeured · past chauffeured
- intransitiveTo be, or act as, a chauffeur (driver of a motor car).
"Old Pearson. He did gardening for us, and chauffeuring for my father. Such a dear old man - I've know him all my life."
1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 75
Chauffeur2
plural Chauffeurs
- historicalA brigand belonging to the bands who, around 1793, pillaged, burned, and killed in parts of France.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe driver of a fire truck.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
chauffeur · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱleh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti
- Proto-Italic*kalēō
- Latincaleō
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
- Proto-Italic*θakjō
- Proto-Italic*fakjō
- Latinfaciō
- Latincalefaciō
- Classical Latincalfaciō
- Vulgar Latin*calfō
- Old Frenchchaufer
- Middle Frenchchauffer
- Frenchchauffer
- Frenchchauffeur
- Englishchauffeur
Borrowed from French chauffeur.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Chauffeur · noun
- Frenchchauffeur“heater, stoker”
- EnglishChauffeur
From French chauffeur (“heater, stoker”), as they were said to burn the feet of their victims to extort money.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سائِق
- سائِق (sāʔiq)person employed to drive a motor car
Bulgarian шофьо́р
- шофьо́р (šofjór)person employed to drive a motor car
Catalan xofer, xòfer
- xoferperson employed to drive a motor car
- xòferperson employed to drive a motor car
Chinese Mandarin 司機 /司机
- 司機 /司机 (sījī)person employed to drive a motor car
Czech šofér, řidič
- šoférperson employed to drive a motor car
- řidičperson employed to drive a motor car
Danish chauffør
- chaufførperson employed to drive a motor car
Dutch privéchauffeur
- privéchauffeurperson employed to drive a motor car
Esperanto ŝoforo, ŝoforino
- ŝoforoperson employed to drive a motor car
- ŝoforinoperson employed to drive a motor car
- ŝoforiintransitive: to be, or act as a chauffeur
- konduki aŭtomobiletransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
- veturigitransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
- ŝoforitransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
Estonian autojuht
- autojuhtperson employed to drive a motor car
Finnish autonkuljettaja, kuljettaja
- autonkuljettajaperson employed to drive a motor car
- kuljettajaperson employed to drive a motor car
- sofööriperson employed to drive a motor car
- safööriperson employed to drive a motor car
- ajaaintransitive: to be, or act as a chauffeur
- kuljettaatransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
- ajaatransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
- kyyditätransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
French chauffeur, chauffeuse
- chauffeurperson employed to drive a motor car
- chauffeuseperson employed to drive a motor car
German Chauffeur, Chauffeurin
- Chauffeurperson employed to drive a motor car
- Chauffeurinperson employed to drive a motor car
- Chauffeuseperson employed to drive a motor car
- Berufschauffeurperson employed to drive a motor car
- Berufschauffeurinperson employed to drive a motor car
- Schofförperson employed to drive a motor car
- Schofförinperson employed to drive a motor car
- chauffierenintransitive: to be, or act as a chauffeur
- chauffierentransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
- herumfahrentransitive: to transport someone in a motor car
Greek οδηγός, σιοφέρης
- οδηγός (odigós)person employed to drive a motor car
- σιοφέρης (sioféris)person employed to drive a motor car
Hungarian sofőr, tűzoltóautó-vezető
- sofőrperson employed to drive a motor car
- tűzoltóautó-vezetőfire truck driver
- tűzoltóautó-sofőrfire truck driver
Icelandic bílstjóri, einkabílstjóri
- bílstjóriperson employed to drive a motor car
- einkabílstjóriperson employed to drive a motor car
Indonesian supir, sopir
- supirperson employed to drive a motor car
- sopirperson employed to drive a motor car
Italian chauffeur, autista
- chauffeurperson employed to drive a motor car
- autistaperson employed to drive a motor car
Japanese 運転手
- 運転手 (untenshu)person employed to drive a motor car
Korean 운전사, 기사
- 운전사 (unjeonsa)person employed to drive a motor car
- 기사 (gisa)person employed to drive a motor car
Latvian vadītājs, šoferis
- vadītājsperson employed to drive a motor car
- šoferisperson employed to drive a motor car
Lithuanian vairuotojas, šoferis
- vairuotojasperson employed to drive a motor car
- šoferisperson employed to drive a motor car
Malay pemandu, drebar
- pemanduperson employed to drive a motor car
- drebarperson employed to drive a motor car
- supirperson employed to drive a motor car
Norwegian Bokmål sjåfør
- sjåførperson employed to drive a motor car
Persian شوفر
- شوفر (šofer)person employed to drive a motor car
Polish szofer, szoferka
- szoferperson employed to drive a motor car
- szoferkaperson employed to drive a motor car
Portuguese motorista, chofer
- motoristaperson employed to drive a motor car
- choferperson employed to drive a motor car
Romanian șofer
- șoferperson employed to drive a motor car
Russian шофёр, персона́льный води́тель
- шофёр (šofjór)person employed to drive a motor car
- персона́льный води́тель (personálʹnyj vodítelʹ)person employed to drive a motor car
- води́тель (vodítelʹ)person employed to drive a motor car
- води́тельница (vodítelʹnica)person employed to drive a motor car
Slovak šofér, vodič
- šoférperson employed to drive a motor car
- vodičperson employed to drive a motor car
Spanish chófer, chofer
- chóferperson employed to drive a motor car
- choferperson employed to drive a motor car
- chaufferperson employed to drive a motor car
- chafirite (despective)person employed to drive a motor car
- chafirita (despective)person employed to drive a motor car
Swedish chaufför
- chaufförperson employed to drive a motor car
Thai คนขับ
- คนขับ (kon-kàp)person employed to drive a motor car
Turkish şoför, sürücü
- şoförperson employed to drive a motor car
- sürücüperson employed to drive a motor car
Ukrainian шофе́р, во́дій
- шофе́р (šofér)person employed to drive a motor car
- во́дій (vódij)person employed to drive a motor car
Vietnamese tài xế
- tài xếperson employed to drive a motor car
Yiddish שאָפֿער, שאָפֿערשע
- שאָפֿער (shofer)person employed to drive a motor car
- שאָפֿערשע (shofershe)person employed to drive a motor car
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with chauffeur
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
chauffeur. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chauffeur
“chauffeur.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chauffeur. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chauffeur,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chauffeur.
Source: chauffeur on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.