ophthalmologist
Americannoun
-
ophthalmologists
plural
noun
Synonym Usage
See eye doctor.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ophthalmologist
First recorded in 1825–35; ophthalmo- + -log(y) + -ist
Explanation
If you can't see the board from your desk, it might be time to visit an ophthalmologist, or eye doctor, to see if you need glasses. An ophthalmologist is a doctor whose specialty is diseases and conditions of the eyes, especially things that relate to vision. She's the doctor who examines your eyes and writes the prescription for your contact lenses. The Greek root word is ophthalmos, which means "eye." Ophthalmologist is a tricky word to spell, particularly because many people tend to skip both the "ph" and the first "l" when they pronounce it.
Vocabulary lists containing ophthalmologist
Common Senses: Op, Ops, Opt ("Sight")
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Occupations
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Words with 15 or More Letters, List 4
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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:
"A team of qualified doctors, including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a physician, conducted a detailed examination of him and declared him medically fit," Tarar said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Eye specialist David Jones, consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, says this is his favourite way of witnessing an eclipse.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Dr. Kristina Voss, an ophthalmologist with Keck Medicine of USC, was enthusiastic about the Eyeball Care treatment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
An FDA ophthalmologist at the meeting didn’t speak at all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
After the exam we went to the ophthalmologist and I picked out my eyeglasses.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
The Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved atropine for this use, but ophthalmologists sometimes prescribe a very low dose off label.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
In 2019, Pham spoke to about 200 ophthalmologists at a convention, detailing his journey, which while battling keratoconus included 2,338 minor league at-bats from 2008-2014 before he made his big league debut.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2025
The motivation underlying this work stems from the limited options currently available to ophthalmologists for investigating the finer details of the sclera in living patients and specimens.
From Science Daily ● May 16, 2024
In swaths of the U.S., a shortage of optometrists and ophthalmologists can make appointments hard to schedule, sometimes booking for months out.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
In the 1990s, the ophthalmologists were building careers on performing cataract procedures.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
