specialist
Americannoun
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specialists
plural
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a person who is devoted to one subject or to one particular branch of a subject or pursuit.
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a medical practitioner who devotes attention to a particular class of diseases, patients, etc.
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U.S. Army. an enlisted person of one of four grades having technical or administrative duties, the grades corresponding to those of corporal through sergeant first class but not requiring the exercise of command.
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Stock Exchange. a member of an exchange who buys and sells a single stock or a particular group of stocks in their own name or for other stockbrokers and thus helps maintain the market in those securities on that exchange.
noun
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a person who specializes in or devotes himself to a particular area of activity, field of research, etc
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( as modifier )
specialist knowledge
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an enlisted rank in the US Army denoting technical qualifications that entitle the holder to a noncommissioned officer's pay
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ecology an organism that has special nutritional requirements and lives in a restricted habitat that provides these Compare generalist
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of specialist
Explanation
A specialist has an area of expertise in a profession or branch of learning. Call an ear, nose, and throat specialist if you can’t shake a stuffy nose, but go to a Shakespeare specialist to learn about King Lear. Specialist started off as a word used just for doctors who focused particular diseases or parts of the body, but now a specialist can be someone with a narrow focus in any field. A specialist is any professional with a specialty — lawyers are specialists because each lawyer deals with a specific kind of legal work. To be a specialist you have to study or get experience in a specific field for a long time.
Vocabulary lists containing specialist
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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National Nurses Week: Hospital People and Places
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Things Not Seen
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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:
Environmental specialist Peter Cunningham told AFP that potential sediment plumes could impact rocky shoreline habitats, crayfish spawning and breeding species.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
An elder-law specialist, however, will most likely recommend a trust called a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, which offers more protections for the owner, who can, for example, change the trustee if necessary.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Indeed, Mourinho once said Wenger is a "specialist in failure", but in this list the Frenchman just pips his rival thanks to engineering the only 'Invincibles' season in Premier League history.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
McDonald, the new Sullivan & Cromwell lead attorney, wasn’t an antitrust specialist, though his two partners on the matter were, and Live Nation already had a deep bench of top flight lawyers from other firms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Even if we charitably explain their denials as due to the shortsightedness of the specialist and the man with an interest this does not mean we must accept them as qualified witnesses.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
In theory, the internal medicine or family medicine doctor oversees your preventive care, ongoing symptoms, chronic conditions, and referrals to specialists.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
Working alongside specialists at the University of Liverpool, the team adapted the treatment for the snake.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I have the best job in the world,” says John Highland, former veterinary technician and now one of the ranch’s animal care specialists, as the dogs stream into Adventureland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
A panel of specialists would be set up for his treatment, with his sister, medical doctor Uzma Khan, allowed to take part, the court added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Two types of such specialists are kings and bureaucrats.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
