qualification
Americannoun
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a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
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a circumstance or condition required by law or custom for getting, having, or exercising a right, holding an office, or the like.
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the act of qualifying; state of being qualified. qualify.
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modification, limitation, or restriction.
to endorse a plan without qualification.
- Synonyms:
- condition, stipulation, reservation
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an instance of this.
He protected his argument with several qualifications.
noun
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an official record of achievement awarded on the successful completion of a course of training or passing of an exam
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an ability, quality, or attribute, esp one that fits a person to perform a particular job or task
he has no qualifications to be a teacher
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a condition that modifies or limits; restriction
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the act of qualifying or state of being qualified
Other Word Forms
- nonqualification noun
- overqualification noun
- prequalification noun
- requalification noun
Etymology
Origin of qualification
1535–45; < Medieval Latin quālificātiōn- (stem of quālificātiō ), equivalent to quālificāt ( us ) (past participle of quālificāre to qualify ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A qualification is either a condition that must be met or a statement that puts a limit on a claim. Both kinds of qualification are restrictive. You know how there are requirements for jobs? You can call those requirements qualifications. For example, a college degree and certain experiences are qualifications for many jobs: without them, you won't even get a job interview. A qualification is also a type of statement that makes a previous statement more specific. If you said "I'm thirsty!" and then added "Not for root beer, though," your second statement is a qualification. Qualifications add a limit to what's been said.
Vocabulary lists containing qualification
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
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"On Women's Right to Vote" by Susan B. Anthony
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"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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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.
It is understood the three-year contract Arteta signed in 2024 is worth £10m a season plus a further £5m triggered by Champions League qualification.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
His last game in charge was a 1-0 play-off defeat by Turkey on 26 March that meant Romania missed out on qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
“The ramp of Nvidia’s Rubin GPU has been delayed due to issues related to the qualification of HBM4 at SK Hynix and to a lesser extent Micron,” Vinh wrote.
From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026
Public tested its AI agent on eight Series 7 practice exams from the Securities Training Corporation—a qualification test for entry-level brokers—and it passed them all, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
By the beginning of 2015, I knew the time was approaching, time for me focus 100 percent of my energy on Olympic qualification.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
