scientist
noun
scientist
American
[sahy-uhn-tist]
/ ˈsaɪ ən tɪst /
noun
-
scientists
plural
Scientist
1
British
/ ˈsaɪəntɪst /
noun
-
Christian Science Christ as supreme spiritual healer
-
short for Christian Scientist See Christian Scientist
scientist
2
British
/ ˈsaɪəntɪst /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of scientist
Explanation
A scientist is a person with some kind of knowledge or expertise in any of the sciences, like biology or chemistry. See that guy in the white lab coat wearing pocket protectors and experimenting with chemicals? He’s definitely a scientist. The word science comes from the Latin, scientia, which means "knowledge." The sciences are branches of knowledge about the world that derive from repeated experiments. A scientist is any person with an interest in the sciences, from amateurs to professionals. A curious high school student interested in seeing what happens when he slips vinegar into his best friend's can of soda could be considered a kind of scientist!
Vocabulary lists containing scientist
Occupations
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"Hitching a Ride"
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 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:
Alphabet chief scientist Demis Hassabis discussed forming an independent AI safety entity before stepping down as Google DeepMind CEO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
At the time scientist and film-maker Riley said: "We've just stood in the shadow of the moon."
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Award-winning space scientist and science communicator Dame Dr Maggie Aderin will host the broadcast.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
I’m a political scientist who has written extensively about rural and working-class communities.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
A scientist sent a thermometer that he claimed would provide the most accurate body temperature readings.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
A theoretical model developed by Marco Schiró, Research Scientist at Collège de France, and his team supported the experimental findings and helped explain how photons behaved inside the device.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
One math professor, Misha Rudnev at the University of Bristol, told New Scientist: “This is a problem that I didn’t expect to see solved in my lifetime.”
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
In another blog post on Monday, Altman and Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki said OpenAI is currently building an automated AI researcher.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
The OEP's Chief Scientist Robbie McDonald said it was important changes to tackle the "widening crisis" in our water bodies were not delayed.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
So, too, no New Scientist, no science pages in the New York Times where the newest work could be reported, compared, commented on.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
A new study led by a Charles Sturt University researcher and international colleagues is challenging a long-accepted idea about how scientists identify ancient disease.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
The climate-controlled centre in Berkshire is carefully managed to prevent the spread of pests and diseases between different cocoa-growing regions of the world, while also providing scientists with the opportunity to study the plants.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
In that research, scientists estimated how thermospheric density changed over time and altitude using general orbital information called Two-Line Element, or TLE, data from Starlink satellites.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
While temperatures will continue to vary from year to year, scientists warn that summers will keep getting hotter on average as carbon emissions continue to heat up the planet.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The scientists relied on active research and the best scientifically based assumptions they could make.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
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.
