probationary

American  

[proh-bey-shuh-ner-ee] / proʊˈbeɪ ʃəˌnɛr i /

Rarely probational

adjective

1. being or relating to an act, process, or period of testing, as of a person’s character, performance, qualifications, etc..

   All our new hires have probationary status until their three-month review.

2. Law.

   1. relating to probation, a method of dealing with offenders, especially youth guilty of minor crimes or first offenses, by allowing them to go at large under the supervision of a probation officer.

      The judge’s options include sending the minor to a probationary camp for juvenile offenders.

   2. relating to conditional release.

      Clients who have completed the probationary period are discharged from the program and released from their prison sentence.

3. Education. being or relating to a trial period or condition of students who are being permitted to redeem academic failures, misconduct, etc..

   Remediation plans for each probationary student must be submitted to the department Chair by midterm.

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Other Word Forms

• unprobational adjective
• unprobationary adjective

Etymology

Origin of probationary

probation ( def. ) + -ary ( def. )

Example Sentences

Joslin had about four weeks left in a two-year probationary period.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Article 27 says Fifa can "fully or partially suspend" a disciplinary measure for "a probationary period of one to four years".

From BBC • Nov. 26, 2025

Though he had been in the civil service for more than two years, a recent promotion designated him as a probationary worker—a category of staff among the first targeted for layoffs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 4, 2025

Hundreds of probationary workers at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have been fired, and the fulltime staff will be trimmed by 2,000.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 24, 2025

And the case seemed to have little impact on Southam’s professional standing: soon after the end of his probationary period, Southam was elected president of the American Association for Cancer Research.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• empirical
• preliminary
• unproved