Skip to main content
pharmaceutical chemist

pharmaceutical chemist

5.8
A scientist who studies and creates medicines to treat illnesses
  • noun
  • /ˌfɑːrməˈsuːtɪkəl ˈkɛmɪst/
translation icon : químico farmacéutico
  • During the conference, the pharmaceutical chemist presented her research on the safety of vaccines.

Examples

  • As a skilled pharmaceutical chemist, she developed a new medication to treat chronic pain.

  • Mary graduated in 1924, and Mac completed work for his certificate as a Pharmaceutical Chemist.

    Blog text (1)
  • The pharmaceutical chemist analyzed the effects of the new drug on patients in clinical trials.

Synonyms

pharmacologist
vspharmaceutical chemist
  • Specialized
3 6.9

A scientist who studies drugs and how they affect the body

has identical meaning but differs as an alternative professional title

Surface Forms

Morphology

pharmaceutical + chemist

The meaning is directly compositional: 'pharmaceutical' (relating to drugs/pharmacy) modifies 'chemist' (a person who works with medicines/chemistry), so the overall sense 'a chemist who works with pharmaceuticals' is predictable from the parts. This follows a common noun-modifier pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun pharmaceutical chemist joins pharmaceutical (about 'medicines') and chemist (a person who works with chemicals). Picture a scientist in a lab making and testing medicines, so it means 'a trained person who studies and develops drugs'.