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Synonyms

co-worker

British  

noun

  1. a fellow worker; associate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Explanation

A co-worker is someone you work with. Your ice cream shop co-worker might scoop the ice cream while you're on milkshake duty. When you work with someone, that person is your co-worker. The word implies that you work side-by-side — you wouldn't usually refer to your boss as your co-worker. If you work in an office, your co-workers probably have cubicles and computers that are similar to yours, and if you work on a farm your co-workers are right there beside you weeding the beets or watering the tomatoes. The prefix co in co-worker means "together" or "mutually."

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Vocabulary lists containing co-worker

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:

Keep detailed notes of times you’ve stayed late, completed to-do’s that weren’t on your list or helped a co-worker finish a project.

From MarketWatch Aug. 19, 2026

“You cannot, you cannot process that,” an emotional co-worker, Marilyn Gwynn, told KSBW.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 23, 2026

A co-worker, Sharam Muhamadi, originally from Iran, has also been convicted of facilitating travel for exploitation.

From BBC Jun. 11, 2026

Notably, she adds, you may have to explicitly ask a senior co-worker to be your sponsor in the same way you requested letters of recommendation when applying to college.

From The Wall Street Journal May 14, 2026

The spontaneous decision to argue with that same co-worker is made unconsciously—by a different part of the brain and motivated by a different part of your personality.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

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