microbiologist
Americannoun
Explanation
Do you love examining tiny things through a microscope? Maybe you should consider being a microbiologist! A microbiologist is a scientist who studies very small organisms. These scientists study microscopic organisms including fungi, algae, the tiny flora that live in your digestive system, and viruses that make people sick. A microbiologist might work to identify bacteria that cause disease or ensure the food supply is free of harmful microorganisms. The word microbiologist, like biologist, is rooted in the Greek word for "life," bios, with the addition of the prefix micro-, "small."
Vocabulary lists containing microbiologist
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: micro
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: micro-
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micro (small)
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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.
In 1980, he married a microbiologist, Georgia Barnett, whom he met at the National Cancer Institute, where he was senior investigator for the dermatology branch.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
Professor Gavin Thomas, a microbiologist at the University of York, was watching the episode.
From BBC • Oct. 16, 2025
Luis Andrés Yarzábal, a microbiologist at the Universidad Católica de Cuenca in Ecuador, described the surprising findings of Russian scientists studying ice cores extracted from pristine glaciers in Antarctica in the 1980s.
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2025
Naturally, I turned to examining my acne—and its refusal to leave my face—through the lens of a microbiologist.
From Slate • Feb. 22, 2025
But a bearded Russian named Alex Goldfarb, a rumpled-looking microbiologist, leaned over his microphone and, in his accented English, startled everyone by saying, “So, Russia is a TB nightmare.”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
