pharmacist
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pharmacist
First recorded in 1825–35; pharmac(y) + -ist
Explanation
When you're sick and need prescription medication, it's a pharmacist who prepares it for you, answers your questions about it, and sells it to you. You can also ask your pharmacist to recommend the best over-the-counter cough drops. If you decide to be a pharmacist, you'll need to study pharmacy, a field of science that's all about making and dispensing safe medicine that works the way it's supposed to. Pharmacists take a lot of chemistry classes to understand how drugs work, and they also study human anatomy and physiology to learn about the way people's bodies react to medicine. In some places, your pharmacist can also give you vaccinations.
Vocabulary lists containing pharmacist
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ist
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Pharmacy Words
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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.
Majid, a 35-year-old pharmacist in Tehran, said he was "deeply worried" by the attacks and their knock-on effects on daily life for Iranians already facing economic hardship.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
The secretary and pharmacist and my kid’s baseball coach ask, “How are you feeling?,” silently imploring me to give them a cancer update without making them ask.
From Slate • May 6, 2026
When she thought she had a urinary tract infection, ChatGPT looked at her symptoms and recommended she go to the pharmacist.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
FDA officials said if you have questions or concerns about the recalled product, consult your doctor of pharmacist.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
Farmer stops a young man on a motorbike and asks if he’d give one of our party, the pharmacist, a lift to Cange.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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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.