noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of theorist
Explanation
Someone who considers given facts and comes up with a possible explanation is called a theorist. Theorists observe various phenomena and use reasoning to come up with practical ideas that must be proven. Theorists come up with abstract ideas and then spend their lives trying to prove them. Perhaps the most famous theorist was Albert Einstein, whose theory of relativity is arguably the most famous ever presented. Still, an idea can always be disputed until proven, and theorists are often scoffed at. Einstein himself once said, "No one but a theorist believes his theory; everyone puts faith in a laboratory result but the experimenter himself."
Vocabulary lists containing theorist
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ist
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Selection Vocabulary 3, Unit 1
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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:
The next, he is reflecting on the ideas of theorist Stuart Hall and the ways individuals can resist hegemony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
I suggested he sounded like a conspiracy theorist, implying the whole world was out to get him.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
They include four US House hopefuls and six candidates for governor, among them conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell in Minnesota.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
The influencer said when people find out that she listens to Owens, they often mock her and call her a conspiracy theorist.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
From his own experiences in Vietnam and his reading of the German military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, Van Riper became convinced that war was inherently unpredictable and messy and nonlinear.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
What followed was a huge search and rescue mission, which cost Suffolk Police more than £2m, captivated the country and fuelled conspiracy theorists.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
These believers had, like so many conspiracy theorists before them, started from a place of legitimate suspicion of powerful institutions.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
The use of Q phrases by government agencies during wartime has excited online conspiracy theorists.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
"No matter what the theorists did -- even with the most advanced computer simulation techniques -- they could not reproduce the experiments," said Millot.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Over the past several decades, educators, world leaders, and theorists have produced a slurry of manifestos, visions and statements on what education should look like in the 21st century.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
