specialist

American  

[spesh-uh-list] / ˈspɛʃ ə lɪst /

noun

1. a person who is devoted to one subject or to one particular branch of a subject or pursuit.

2. a medical practitioner who devotes attention to a particular class of diseases, patients, etc.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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specialist British  

/ ˈspɛʃəlɪst /

noun

1. 1. a person who specializes in or devotes himself to a particular area of activity, field of research, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      specialist knowledge

2. an enlisted rank in the US Army denoting technical qualifications that entitle the holder to a noncommissioned officer's pay

3. ecology an organism that has special nutritional requirements and lives in a restricted habitat that provides these Compare generalist

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Other Word Forms

• nonspecialist
  noun
• prespecialist
  noun
• specialistic
  adjective
• subspecialist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of specialist

First recorded in 1855–60; special + -ist

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.

Example Sentences

Specialist investors, Javaheri said, understand that the industry is still developing the infrastructure for its plans, and they know how to balance long-term plays with short-term holdings.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was set up by the country's parliament.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

Appeared in the February 4, 2026, print edition as 'Varonis Systems To Buy AI Specialist AllTrue'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

The president of the British Obesity and Metabolic Specialist Society, Ahmed Ahmed, said he was doing more of these operations with "more and more" people telling him they had taken weight loss injections.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

It is possible that the monkey ran under Specialist Williams’s feet and then was chased back into the room again.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Related Words

• authority
• consultant
• doctor
• guru
• professional
• scholar
• technician