probationary

[ proh-bey-shuh-ner-ee ]

adjective

1. being or relating to an act, process, or period of testing, as of a person’s character, performance, qualifications, etc.:

   All our new hires have probationary status until their three-month review.

2. Law.
   1. relating to probation, a method of dealing with offenders, especially youth guilty of minor crimes or first offenses, by allowing them to go at large under the supervision of a probation officer:

      The judge’s options include sending the minor to a probationary camp for juvenile offenders.

   2. relating to conditional release:

      Clients who have completed the probationary period are discharged from the program and released from their prison sentence.

3. Education. being or relating to a trial period or condition of students who are being permitted to redeem academic failures, misconduct, etc.:

   Remediation plans for each probationary student must be submitted to the department Chair by midterm.

Other Words From

• un·pro·ba·tion·ar·y un·pro·ba·tion·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of probationary¹

probation ( def ) + -ary ( def )

Example Sentences

In that case, any sentence in New York, including a probationary one, would be served only after Trump is out of office, at which point this may be a very different country.

From Los Angeles Times

Yu’s report called on the police department to ban “‘rites of passage’ that might be construed as hazing or disparate treatment towards probationary officers.”

From Los Angeles Times

Barely half of the 49 probationary officers polled said they rotated with at least three different instructors as required.

From Los Angeles Times

One officer was downgraded after making racist comments to probationary officers, another for being arrested while off-duty and the third for instructing their trainee to turn off their body camera during a call for service.

From Los Angeles Times

While younger officers “expressed an overwhelmingly positive view of their experience...across a broad range of areas,” a survey given by the report’s findings uncovered some “notable concerns echoed by multiple probationary officers.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• empirical
• preliminary
• unproved