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Synonyms

zoologist

American  
[zoh-ol-uh-jist] / zoʊˈɒl ə dʒɪst /

noun

  • zoologists
    plural
  1. a specialist in zoology.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of zoologist

First recorded in 1655–65; zoolog(y) + -ist

Explanation

A zoologist is a scientist who studies animals. Zoologists are experts on everything about animals, from their cells to the history of their evolution. If you love and are fascinated by animals, you might decide to become a zoologist. Your major in college will probably be zoology, which is a branch of biology focusing on all animals — even those that are extinct. A zoologist may end up doing research, or work as a zookeeper in a zoo. Zoologist shares a root with zoology, the Latin zoologia, which combines the Greek words zoion, "animal," and logia, "study."

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Vocabulary lists containing zoologist

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:

"Previously, such chelae were known from only three insect groups. This fossil therefore represents the fourth known case of these structures evolving independently in insects," explains Privatdozent Carolin Haug, zoologist at LMU's Faculty of Biology.

From Science Daily ● May 25, 2026

Contrary to what some may think, birds cannot always easily flee the dangers of war, zoologist Ewa Wegrzyn, from the Polish University of Rzeszow, said.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

Ms. Wimpenny, a British zoologist, aims to rehabilitate creepy-crawlies, predators and even, somewhat, real and presumed disease carriers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

It was mankind seen through the eyes of a zoologist - not an anthropologist.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

One of the first to envision such use of microorganisms was the 19th-century zoologist Elie Metchnikoff.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Until the 1960s, Ms. Horn writes, most zoologists had “studied only specimens on cold tables, or broken creatures in shackles or cages.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

This disconnect has fueled years of debate among zoologists and paleontologists.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026

A zoo is celebrating the birth of a giant anteater pup, which zoologists say is "considered the most threatened mammal in Central America".

From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026

At this stage, co-authors Darya Krupenko and Aleksei Miroliubov, invertebrate zoologists at Saint Petersburg University, suspected this enigmatic conglomerate might be a parasite.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 21, 2023

There has been, for many years, a running battle among jungle zoologists as to just which of the giant snakes is the biggest.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

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