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
Local politician Claire Lejeune wrote on X that the bus fell into the Seine "with four people on board, including a trainee driver" and thanked emergency services for their response.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
Crosbie, the trainee GP, has gained a valuable insight into the condition through her own experiences.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
I pick up my tray and start toward the Junior Agent trainee table.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
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.
