Mister

//ˈmɪstəɹ// name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of Mister, especially when used as a form of address without a name.

    "You may sit here, mister."

  2. 2
    Someone's business or function; an occupation, employment, trade. obsolete
  3. 3
    A device that makes or sprays mist.

    "Odessa D. uses a mister Sunday to fight the 106-degree heat at a NASCAR race in Fontana, California."

  4. 4
    A general title of respect for an adult male.; With a surname.

    "This is Mister Smith, assistant to the President."

  5. 5
    a form of address for a man wordnet
Show 13 more definitions
  1. 6
    A man.

    "There are too many misters and not enough sisters up in this club tonight, for my taste."

  2. 7
    A kind, type of. archaic, dialectal

    "The Redcrosse knight toward him crossed fast, To weet, what mister wight was so dismayd[…]."

  3. 8
    A general title of respect for an adult male.; With a full name.

    "This is Mister James Smith, assistant to the President."

  4. 9
    Need (of something). obsolete

    "He is richt gude, Ane man of wealth and nobill blude, Bot hes mair mister of ane Hude."

  5. 10
    A general title of respect for an adult male.; With a first name only.

    "Will Mister Robert be staying for dinner?"

  6. 11
    Necessity; the necessary time. obsolete

    "That the portis be mendytt and lokit and reformit as mister is."

  7. 12
    An official form of address to a male president of a nation.

    "Mister President"

  8. 13
    A formal address to any male official of an organization.

    "Mister Secretary"

  9. 14
    An official title of a military man, usually anyone below rank of captain.
  10. 15
    A male warrant officer or cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point.
  11. 16
    An informal title that is used to create a nickname, placeholder name, or other moniker for a male.

    "Mister Suave"

  12. 17
    A title used to designate the (male) winner of certain kinds of competition.

    "The Mister Universe finals will be held in Los Angeles."

  13. 18
    Used by itself as a familiar term of address to a man whose name is unknown, or sometimes even if the name is known. colloquial

    "'Scuse me Mister, do you have the time?"

Verb
  1. 1
    To address by the title of "mister". ambitransitive

    "1837-39, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist “Hush! hush! Mr. Sikes,” said the Jew, trembling; “don’t speak so loud!” “None of your mistering,” replied the ruffian; “you always mean mischief when you come that. You know my name: out with it! I shan’t disgrace it when the time comes.”"

  2. 2
    To be necessary; to matter. impersonal, obsolete

    "As for my name, it mistreth not to tell; Call me the Squyre of Dames that me beseemeth well."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
mrmr.captaindonemirhusband

Example

More examples

""Mister"ing a tick? You're a funny kid."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Unaccented variant of master, attested since the 15th century.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mister, myster, from Anglo-Norman mester, meister (et al.), from Latin misterium, a medieval conflation of Latin ministerium (“ministry”) with Latin mysterium (“mystery”). Doublet of métier.

Etymology 3

mist + -er

Etymology 4

See mister.

Related phrases

Mister BigMister CharlieMister IrrelevantMister Nice GuyMister RightMister WrongMr. ClausMr. Magoo glassesMr. Presidenthey mistermisters before sisterssister from another mister

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.