vocational
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or connected with a vocation or occupation.
a vocational aptitude.
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of, relating to, or noting instruction or guidance in an occupation or profession chosen as a career or in the choice of a career.
a vocational counselor.
adjective
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of or relating to a vocation or vocations
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of or relating to applied educational courses concerned with skills needed for an occupation, trade, or profession
vocational training
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of vocational
Explanation
If you're learning a skill that could lead to a specific job, like how to repair cars or how to be a chef, you're getting vocational training. Vocational means "related to a career." A vocation is a job or career, so something vocational is related to a specific kind of work. There are vocational schools that train people for jobs, which might be what you think of when you read the word vocational, though it could describe anything related to working. Vocational comes from the Latin word vocationem, or "a calling." It originally meant a spiritual calling, but grew to include employment in the 16th century.
Vocabulary lists containing vocational
President Trump's First State of The Union Address (2018)
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Revolution in Our Time
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Promises to Keep
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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.
Funds in the account may be used for qualified higher-education expenses, including tuition at a college, university, trade school, vocational school or apprenticeship program.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
Chloe's careers adviser, Kate Timmins, met her at home, took her on open days at a local college and helped her secure a place on a vocational childcare course.
From BBC • May 30, 2026
The barrage came days after Russia accused Kyiv of striking a vocational school in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region, killing 21 people.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
Recipients of these benefits in turn regularly have their finances reevaluated, and are also intermittently examined by medical and vocational experts, to determine whether their payments will continue.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026
You could feel the rush of prison growth even in the forgotten backwater of Sing Sing, where the superintendent had said that getting money to build new and bigger vocational shops was his number-one priority.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
