noun
Etymology
Origin of trainee
Explanation
If you're a trainee, you're being taught to do a new job. If you're hired at your local grocery store, you'll likely spend some time as a trainee before you're allowed to work the cash register on your own. Whenever someone goes through training, especially for a new job or skill, they can be called a trainee. If you're learning a new computer coding language, you might be a Python or Java trainee. And if you're in your first week at a coffee shop job, you're probably still a barista trainee. Trainee dates back to the mid-19th century, from the verb train, "instruct."
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.
One of the first things you do as a Mobil Oil trainee is you learn how to drive the tractor, turn it on, pull the lever.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
If I say to a trainee, “You’re flinching,” that puts it in his head.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
A trainee paediatric nurse has started a peer-led support group for women who are waiting for a diagnosis or living with gynaecological health conditions.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
But a week ago, a trainee paramedic spoke to the BBC about how she is now looking for work abroad because of a recruitment freeze in Wales.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
Thomas Geisbert was an intern at the Institute, a kind of trainee.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
