generalist

American  

[jen-er-uh-list] / ˈdʒɛn ər ə lɪst /

noun

1. a person whose knowledge, aptitudes, and skills are applied to a field as a whole or to a variety of different fields (opposed to specialist).

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generalist British  

/ ˈdʒɛnərəlɪst, ˈdʒɛnrə- /

noun

1. 1. a person who is knowledgeable in many fields of study

   2. ( as modifier )

      a generalist profession

2. ecology an organism able to utilize many food sources and therefore able to flourish in many habitats Compare specialist

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Etymology

Origin of generalist

First recorded in 1605–15; general + -ist

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

generalist

On Friday, RBC Capital Markets’ Trung Huynh noted that AbbVie’s stock now has “heavy generalist ownership” and tends to do better on days when tech sells off.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

Researchers were already developing AI models to break ciphers, but the public release of state-of-the-art generalist tools has unleashed dozens of new solutions.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

“To be a better generalist, you’re better off being exposed to more types of issues in ways of working.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Catch One is a generalist music venue, but was founded as Los Angeles’ first nightclub for Black lesbians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

The challenge, as always, was to play the role of market generalist without also playing the role of fool at the poker table.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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