career
Americannoun
-
careers
plural
-
an occupation or profession, especially one requiring special training, followed as one's lifework.
He sought a career as a lawyer.
-
a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking.
His career as a soldier ended with the armistice.
- Synonyms:
- livelihood, lifework, work, calling, vocation
-
success in a profession, occupation, etc.
-
a course, especially a swift one.
-
speed, especially full speed.
The horse stumbled in full career.
-
Archaic. a charge at full speed.
verb (used without object)
-
careers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
careered,
past participle, past
-
careering
present participle
adjective
noun
-
a path or progress through life or history
-
a profession or occupation chosen as one's life's work
-
(modifier) having or following a career as specified
a career diplomat
-
a course or path, esp a swift or headlong one
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
careersimple
-
careerssimple
-
have careeredperfect
-
has careeredperfect
-
am careeringprogressive
-
are careeringprogressive
-
is careeringprogressive
-
have been careeringperfect progressive
-
has been careeringperfect progressive
Past
-
careeredsimple
-
had careeredperfect
-
was careeringprogressive
-
were careeringprogressive
-
had been careeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of career
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French carriere, from Old Provençal carriera, literally, “road,” from Late Latin carrāria (via) “vehicular (road),” equivalent to Latin carr(us) “wagon” ( see car 1) + -āria (feminine of -ārius -ary )
Explanation
You may have to take jobs as a dog walker, cat groomer, and fish feeder before you complete school for a career as a veterinarian. Small jobs in the short term give you experience for a long-term career. Career comes from the French carrière, from an older word for "street" or "road." Staying on track for a certain career is like driving a car in one direction on a road, instead of veering in different directions. Maybe the expression "career path" is helpful in remembering that a career is something that progresses, or moves forward on a set path. It can also be used as a verb to describe something moving quickly and uncontrollably, like a car careering into a ditch.
Vocabulary lists containing career
Can I Work It? Words for "Job"
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"Creativity at Work" and "The Hidden Secrets of the Creative Mind"
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Academy Awards, List 5
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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.
See Examples For:
Number of career rushing touchdowns for Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
A government spokesperson said Sir Olly "had a distinguished public service career over three decades".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
He would like to play until 40 and finish his career here.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
"I don't think it hinders us. Some of the lads were talking about the last World Cup and it was probably one of the most difficult losses of my career to date," Williams added.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Your career? Are you serious right now? There is obviously so much more at stake than your career.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Starting at age 15, they learn the family and company history, receive training in personal finance and get counseling on their education and careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Severin added that the retired senior judges and leading barristers, who sat on the Commission, have "spent their careers interpreting complicated facts, dealing with witnesses and applying relevant weight to evidence".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
The actor received a Teen Choice Award nomination for his work on “New Girl,” which starred Zooey Deschanel and followed a group of roommates navigating relationships and careers in Los Angeles.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
Four of Draper’s grandchildren also are pursuing careers in venture capital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The two composers, both born in 1813, had pursued parallel but quite separate careers in opera.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Two systems that could have slowed an Amazon Air flight that crashed in Miami over the weekend weren’t deployed before the plane careered off a runway and crashed into nearby vehicles, investigators said late Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Their running total of transfer fees long since careered past the £25m mark.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The driver was arrested after the vehicle careered from a main square down a major city centre street, close to historic sites.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
"The jury and the organisers have decided to stop the race," they said as Austria's Nina Ortlieb and Marte Monsen of Norway had also careered off-piste.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
There was a loud splintering of shafts as the horse careered onwards, trailing in its wake reins, tracers and shattered timber.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The accident, which saw the picture-postcard 19th-century Gloria tramway hurtle into a building after careering off the rails, shocked the Portuguese capital, laying bare fears over the safety of the popular yet ageing tourist attraction.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
The club doesn’t intend to keep careering ahead this way forever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2025
Both aircraft were sent careering into the icy Potomac River on Wednesday night.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2025
Only after that point could turmoil begin: It was shattered by an impact and shifted outward to the asteroid belt, where subsequent impacts would have formed the Athor family and sent some careering toward Earth.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 16, 2024
“It was no more exhausting careering after Jasper on the rocks than it was careering after driftwood on the beach,” I answered.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
