vocational
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or connected with a vocation or occupation.
a vocational aptitude.
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of, relating to, or noting instruction or guidance in an occupation or profession chosen as a career or in the choice of a career.
a vocational counselor.
adjective
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of or relating to a vocation or vocations
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of or relating to applied educational courses concerned with skills needed for an occupation, trade, or profession
vocational training
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vocational
Explanation
If you're learning a skill that could lead to a specific job, like how to repair cars or how to be a chef, you're getting vocational training. Vocational means "related to a career." A vocation is a job or career, so something vocational is related to a specific kind of work. There are vocational schools that train people for jobs, which might be what you think of when you read the word vocational, though it could describe anything related to working. Vocational comes from the Latin word vocationem, or "a calling." It originally meant a spiritual calling, but grew to include employment in the 16th century.
Vocabulary lists containing vocational
President Trump's First State of The Union Address (2018)
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Revolution in Our Time
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Promises to Keep
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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.
Local governments and universities have launched programs including career counseling, vocational training and AI-related courses aimed at preparing students for a changing labor market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Roy would use the city attorney’s role as the prosecutor of most misdemeanor crimes to funnel nonviolent offenders into diversion programs, such as mental health treatment or vocational training.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Teenagers will be offered a range of new vocational GCSEs under what the Guardian is calling a "radical shake-up of the school system".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Ellison says the company will work with community colleges, vocational schools and others that can do training and certification to “scale how this works” and create consistent pathways to new jobs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Parts of the structure were used as a vocational shop until the roof burned down in 1984, when the building was permanently closed—boarded up and fenced in though, inexplicably, not removed.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
