consultant
Americannoun
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consultants
plural
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a person who gives professional or expert advice.
a consultant on business methods.
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a person who consults someone or something.
noun
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a senior physician, esp a specialist, who is asked to confirm a diagnosis or treatment or to provide an opinion
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a physician or surgeon holding the highest appointment in a particular branch of medicine or surgery in a hospital
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a specialist who gives expert advice or information
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a person who asks advice in a consultation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of consultant
First recorded in 1690–1700; from French or directly from Latin consultant- (stem of consultāns, present participle of consultāre “to take counsel”); see origin at consult, -ant
Explanation
A consultant is an expert in a particular field. Sometimes a business will rely on the guidance of a consultant to help change its image. How did the word consultant come about? Consult dates to the 1520s and comes from the French word consultare, meaning "take advice of." The related noun consultant, to mean someone qualified to give advice, is believed to have first appeared in an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story.
Vocabulary lists containing consultant
The Westing Game
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The Lemonade War
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 6
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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.
See Examples For:
Rose also worked as a consultant for Balenciaga's menswear line from 2015 to 2018 under its star Georgian designer Demna, now at Gucci.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
Students submitted an average of 1.4 deposits each for the class that started in 2025, up from one in 2019, according to a report from consultant EAB.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some Salvadorans serve with other contractors hired by U.S. security consultant Erik Prince.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
As Portland, Ore.-based energy consultant Robert McCullough observed in a recent note, “4.8 million tonnes of diesel sounds large and would impress a naive audience.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
After his forced retirement at age sixty-five, Dad stayed as a consultant with the company for five more years, living in the Club House.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
In the strike ballot 76% of consultants who took part voted in favour with turnout just over 50%.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
The walkout will begin on 25 November at 06:59 GMT, with consultants providing emergency cover only.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Ford, who’s bidding to become Nevada’s first Black governor, has one of those up-by-the-bootstraps biographies that campaign consultants see as spun gold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
Election consultants, researchers and former Postal Service officials told ProPublica that the guidance for the upcoming vote gave more detailed directions on how to expedite ballots.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026
In the wake of the Tet Offensive, Rand sent him briefly to D.C. to join a group of consultants advising Clark Clifford, the new secretary of defense.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
