Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A parent who is overly involved in the life of his or her child.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
parent who pays an inordinate amount of attention to their children and often makes decisions, particularly educational ones, normally the province of the student.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[So called because such a parent is likened to a military or police helicopter hovering overhead.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the tendency to hover over their children's lives, like a helicopter.
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Examples
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vanishedone commented on the word helicopter parent
BBC: 'The concept of the "helicopter parent" (that is the parent who continues to hover over their offspring even after they have left home for university) owes much to a generation of mothers and fathers who have been encouraged to be active consumers as their children have gone through the school system.'
June 21, 2008
kewpid commented on the word helicopter parent
*sigh* I know this well...
June 21, 2008