consultant
Americannoun
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a person who gives professional or expert advice.
a consultant on business methods.
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a person who consults someone or something.
noun
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a senior physician, esp a specialist, who is asked to confirm a diagnosis or treatment or to provide an opinion
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a physician or surgeon holding the highest appointment in a particular branch of medicine or surgery in a hospital
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a specialist who gives expert advice or information
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a person who asks advice in a consultation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of consultant
First recorded in 1690–1700; from French or directly from Latin consultant- (stem of consultāns, present participle of consultāre “to take counsel”); see origin at consult, -ant
Explanation
A consultant is an expert in a particular field. Sometimes a business will rely on the guidance of a consultant to help change its image. How did the word consultant come about? Consult dates to the 1520s and comes from the French word consultare, meaning "take advice of." The related noun consultant, to mean someone qualified to give advice, is believed to have first appeared in an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story.
Vocabulary lists containing consultant
The Westing Game
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The Lemonade War
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 6
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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.
After getting elected in February 2025, Mr. Martin assigned the task to a Democratic consultant.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
When Brown arrived in Minneapolis in early February, he told a U.S. border official that he was working in China as a consultant providing academic airline training, prosecutors said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
Booz Allen Hamilton rose 2.1% after the government services consultant reported mixed quarterly results.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
Patel, who had been a permanent consultant at the hospital since 2018, was the only clinician in Wales who could treat Patient A's specific condition, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service was told.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
A consultant was taking charge and a rough triage system was in place.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
