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specialist

specialist

352 3.9
A person who knows a lot about one area of work or study
  • noun
  • /ˈspɛʃəlɪst/
translation icon : especialista
  • Chris is a specialist in global change research, helping organizations adapt their strategies to the environment.
  • a specialist teacher
  • a media specialist
  • specialists and experts

Steve Jobs was a specialist at building teams.

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Examples

  • Itamar Rabinovich, an academic specialist on Syria, was appointed head of the Israeli delegation.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Chris is a specialist in global change research.

  • We need a, uh, marketing specialist, and word has it you are the very best.

  • Well, I would recommend you take your computer to an IT specialist.

  • Am I mistaken in thinking that you are a specialist in the history of philosophy?

    Fiction book (1995)
  • There are very few specialists who conduct these assessments.

  • Compared with classroom teachers who can teach the same students every day, specialist teachers' accessibility was limited.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Desert Island is by day a mouse genome specialist at the Jackson Laboratory.

    Academic text (2011)
  • In early June 2008, I interviewed for the media specialist position at Beaufort Elementary School.

    Academic text (2011)
  • When I first met Vaughan, he was a specialist... in international computerized traffic systems.

Synonyms

expert
vsspecialist
3.2

A person who knows a lot about a subject and can help others

is narrower and names someone for a particular job or study area
master
vsspecialist
791 4.2

A person who is very skilled in an activity or art

is about high knowledge for a specific job or study rather than rank
consultant
vsspecialist
537 3.8

A person who gives expert advice to businesses or organisations

is the general term for someone with high knowledge, not only advisers
scholar
vsspecialist
281 4.1

A person with deep knowledge who studies a subject carefully for many years

is more about high practical skill for work or study than research
advisor
vsspecialist
  • US
271 2.8

A person who gives expert advice about a particular subject

is broader, covering any highly knowledgeable person not only advisers
computer expert
vsspecialist
6 3.1

A person who knows a lot about computers and helps fix them

is general and applies to any field of work or study
adept
vsspecialist
3 4.7

A person who is very skilled at something

focuses more on high knowledge rather than only practical skill
ologist
vsspecialist
  • Informal
1 7.5

A person who studies a subject, used jokingly for an expert

is the standard term for someone with high knowledge in a field
mavin
vsspecialist
  • US
1 9.9

A person who knows a lot about a subject and advises others

refers to high knowledge in a job or study rather than social praise
specializer
vsspecialist
  • US
7.6

A person who focuses on and is very skilled in one area of work or study

is broader, covering high knowledge in any work or study area
kenner
vsspecialist
9.8

A person who knows a lot about a subject and can judge its quality, like wine or art

is the general label for high knowledge across jobs or study areas

Antonyms

9 5.5

A person who knows and works in many different areas

Compounds

A doctor with extra training in one part of medicine

A doctor who finds and treats heart problems

ear specialist
  • Specialized
1 3.5

A doctor who treats ear problems and checks hearing

1 4.5

A person who finds and compares marks left by fingers to help the police

How Expert

authority
292 4.2
specialist
352 3.9
practitioner
120 4.0
novice
46 3.4

Surface Forms

specialist singular
specialists plural

Morphology

specialist = special (transparent) = special + ist

Standard agentive formation: 'special' + '-ist' yields a person characterized by specialization; the relation is directly inferable.

Etymology

The word specialist comes from special which means 'particular' and the ending -ist which means 'a person who does something'. So a specialist is an expert who focuses on one subject or skill instead of doing many different things.