experimentalist

American  

[ik-sper-uh-ment-uhl-ist] / ɪkˌspɛr əˈmɛnt əl ɪst /

noun

1. a person who enjoys experimenting or trying new things, especially in the arts.

2. a scientist whose research relies on experiments or who is skilled in designing and conducting them.

3. a person who subscribes to philosophical empiricism.

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adjective

1. fond of experimenting or trying new things, especially in the arts.

2. of or relating to a scientific or philosophical emphasis on experiment or experience rather than theory.

Example Sentences

The path to Bieber’s first No. 1 on the Hot 100 was cleared by a better, more interesting song that reframed him as a dreamboat experimentalist.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Prominent among these were ballets by Ms. Tharp, the one-time experimentalist modern-dance maker whose creations for ABT made up the opening bill.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 3, 2025

Sivak, a theorist, and Bechhoefer, an experimentalist, bring complementary approaches to their work, and they have been able to attract trainees who want to work with both.

From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2024

A muon collider’s ability to more clearly probe Higgs physics sets it apart, says Donatella Lucchesi, an experimentalist at the University of Padua and Italy’s National Institute of Nuclear Physics.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 27, 2024

Then, in February, a gifted young Brazilian experimentalist named Cesare M. G. Lattes arrived in Berkeley.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik