mentor
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
verb
noun
Usage
What does mentor mean? A mentor is the main person you rely on to give you advice and guidance, especially in your career.Mentor can also be used as a verb meaning to act as a mentor, as in I mentor two of my students. If you have a mentor, you are the mentee.Example: It feels strange to me that I’m now more famous than my mentor—I wouldn’t be where I am without her.
Other Word Forms
- mentorial adjective
- mentorship noun
Etymology
Origin of mentor
First recorded in 1740–50; after Mentor (from Greek Méntōr )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The last feature Gyllenhaal appeared in as an actor was 2018’s “The Kindergarten Teacher,” playing an overzealous mentor to a young poetry prodigy.
From Los Angeles Times
Khomeini would become his mentor, a figure to whom he remained ever loyal, running secret missions for him while Khomeini lived in exile.
From Los Angeles Times
Also, managers may mentor their partners, increasing their skills and productivity.
Coach Close and her staff are such great teachers and mentors.
From Los Angeles Times
While Summers’ behavior and the reported dynamics between him and a woman he mentored may appear shocking, they are all too common in economics.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
