microbiologist
Americannoun
Explanation
Do you love examining tiny things through a microscope? Maybe you should consider being a microbiologist! A microbiologist is a scientist who studies very small organisms. These scientists study microscopic organisms including fungi, algae, the tiny flora that live in your digestive system, and viruses that make people sick. A microbiologist might work to identify bacteria that cause disease or ensure the food supply is free of harmful microorganisms. The word microbiologist, like biologist, is rooted in the Greek word for "life," bios, with the addition of the prefix micro-, "small."
Vocabulary lists containing microbiologist
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: micro
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: micro-
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micro (small)
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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.
“It’s like a needle in a haystack,” says Rodney Rohde, a clinical microbiologist and professor at Texas State University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
But as the food microbiologist Lee-Ann Jaykus told Nadira, it’s also possible contaminated lettuce ended up elsewhere—or even that there’s more than one outbreak happening at once.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
In this world, a player like Omeed “Atlas” Atlaschi, 31, is a microbiologist in Orange County by day, and an elite gamer by night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
Paul Jensen, a microbiologist and engineer at the University of Michigan, studies bacteria that live in our mouths.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
Avery had established himself as a competent microbiologist, but had never imagined venturing into the new world of genes and chromosomes.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
