Synonyms

test pilot

American

noun

a pilot employed to test-fly newly-built aircraft.

test pilot British

noun

a pilot who flies aircraft of new design to test their performance in the air

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of test pilot

First recorded in 1925–30

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:

test pilot

The agencies told him that Rush not only wasn’t an elite military test pilot, as he had claimed to the CIA, but he also held no pilot credentials at all.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

Air Force colonel with more than 27 years of experience as an instructor pilot, fighter pilot, and test pilot.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

A test pilot who has logged 170 days in space, he can step into any role.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

Parmitano was a test pilot for the Italian Air Force before becoming a colonel, and was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

I really liked my job as a test pilot; in fact, I thought it was the best possible job I could have, except for one thing.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023