oncologist
Americannoun
Explanation
An oncologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating different forms of cancer. Hearing that a friend or family member has to visit an oncologist is never good news. Oncology is the medical treatment of cancer, and an oncologist is someone who has trained to practice oncology. Cancer is a disease that involves the abnormal growth of normal cells into masses, or tumors, and the word oncologist includes the prefix onco-, which is used in medical words to mean "tumor." It stems from the Greek root onkos, or "mass."
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.
All told, it’s still rare, at least for now, for a myeloma patient to refer to themselves as cured or for an oncologist to refer to a myeloma patient that way.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
Dr Catherine Hanna, a consultant clinical oncologist at the Belfast Health Trust, said anal cancer is treatable - with radiotherapy - if diagnosed early.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
The first scene of Ann Packer’s smart, surprising novel “Some Bright Nowhere” is her final visit with the oncologist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
It’s also the largest known risk factor for men who get breast cancer, Hal Burstein, a breast oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 12, 2025
They brought in a specialist called a radiation oncologist to talk Baba into getting radiation treatment.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
