physicist
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of physicist
Explanation
A physicist is a scientist who studies and is trained in physics, which is the study of nature, especially how matter and energy behave. Do you ever wonder how things work? If you're interested in what makes magnets attract iron or what's happening in atoms, then maybe you should become a physicist. Physicists study physics, which is related to the word physical. Physicists are interested in everything that physically exists, from tiny gadgets to massive stars. It takes many years of school to become a physicist, and physicists work on complex projects such as space travel and new energy sources.
Vocabulary lists containing physicist
Albert Einstein
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Bomb
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The Subtle Knife
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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.
The firm's approach to this is based on exploiting the properties of a so-called quasi-particle, which had existed only in theory, since it was first predicted in the 1930s by Italian physicist Ettore Majorana.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
In 1996, physicist Alan Sokal published a hoax article full of trendy academic nonsense in the journal Social Text.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
A physicist by trade, he has held senior leadership roles at Google and Amazon, and has headed several venture capital-funded start-ups.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Buono is a physicist who previously founded and led nuclear medicine company Advanced Accelerator Applications.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
The young physicist reddened, “We didn’t really want to do without the robots, sir, and besides we weren’t certain exactly how such...uh...minor complaints might be received.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
