economist
Americannoun
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a specialist in economics
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archaic a person who advocates or practises frugality
Etymology
Origin of economist
Explanation
The word economist is close to economics, which is the science of money. An economist is a person who practices that science. If your economics course isn't being taught by an economist, the chances are you should switch sections. In the 16th century, the word was used to describe the person who managed the household, which certainly explains courses in "home economics." But the current meaning of economist — a person who studies the flow of cash and credit between people, institutions, banks, etc. — first developed during the 18th century. Perhaps that's no surprise either, as that's when the global economy truly became, well, global.
Vocabulary lists containing economist
Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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The Executive Branch: The Presidency and Vice Presidency
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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.
Permata Bank chief economist Josua Pardede said an exchange rate of 18,000 was a "psychological threshold" for market investors.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
As a famous economist infamously noted in 1929, they seem to have reached a permanently high plateau.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
GDP per capita has been turning upward since Ottawa’s U-turn on immigration, said Shelly Kaushik, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
But workers shouldn’t lose sight of the benefits of hybrid work arrangements, said Stanford University economist Nick Bloom, who has studied the rise of working from home.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
Regression analysis is the tool that enables an economist to sort out these huge piles of data.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
