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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:

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

Dr Michel Dugon, a zoologist at the University of Galway, said the figures are "interesting" but "not surprising".

From BBC Apr. 13, 2026

What all of this does not mean, according to zoologist Arik Kershenbaum of the University of Cambridge, is that dogs grasp the meaning of language.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 3, 2026

He knew things no other zoologist did because of his proximity to the whales and keen eye.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 29, 2024

You could become a zoologist, a biologist, an anthropologist, or an ecologist.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

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

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

The zoologists concentrated on young workers that had not yet undertaken any learning walks.

From Science Daily Feb. 13, 2024

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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