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data scientist

American  
[dey-tuh sahy-uhn-tist, dat-uh] / ˈdeɪ tə ˌsaɪ ən tɪst, ˈdæt ə /

noun

Digital Technology.

  1. a person with expertise in statistics, computer programming, and machine learning who develops models and processes for retrieving valuable information from large data sets.

Etymology

Origin of data scientist

First recorded in 2005–10

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.

Katherine Quinn is a data scientist and Rebecca Gelles is a machine-learning engineer at CSET.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

Kyle Frankovich, a Harvard data scientist and Chicago resident, was also arrested.

From Salon • Apr. 15, 2026

Max Motz is a macro data scientist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, an investment-research firm.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026

Refer’s AI agent connected him with an executive at Golden, a volunteer-management company, which was looking for a platform engineer and data scientist.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

“A data scientist or whatever? That’s not a passion. It’s just a job. Having dreams never killed anybody.”

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

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.