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
- consultancy noun
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”); 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.
“All of these things have evolved,” said Millie Carrasquillo, a Hispanic media consultant and former Telemundo research senior vice president.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026
“A ‘workable system’ of transit and shipowner confidence in the security of the transiting vessels is essential,” Alan Gelder, a senior vice president at consultant Wood Mackenzie, said in a note.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026
Some ship crews that have been waiting weeks to transit the strait have been running short of food and fuel, said Nick Studer, CEO of consultant Oliver Wyman, at a conference last month.
From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, says a ceasefire eases some of the immediate pressure on gas markets but "does not wipe the slate clean".
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
“Salmon has a lot of omega-3. My consultant, Tricia, says it’s really good for your skin and nails.”
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
