physicist
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of physicist
Explanation
A physicist is a scientist who studies and is trained in physics, which is the study of nature, especially how matter and energy behave. Do you ever wonder how things work? If you're interested in what makes magnets attract iron or what's happening in atoms, then maybe you should become a physicist. Physicists study physics, which is related to the word physical. Physicists are interested in everything that physically exists, from tiny gadgets to massive stars. It takes many years of school to become a physicist, and physicists work on complex projects such as space travel and new energy sources.
Vocabulary lists containing physicist
Albert Einstein
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Bomb
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The Subtle Knife
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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.
But in 1970, physicist Stephen Hawking proposed another possibility.
From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2026
If that seems like a mouthful, here’s the takeaway from researchers themselves: Allen Scheie, a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, says the result “raises the bar for what can be expected from quantum computers.”
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
Inspired by a novella by Soviet physicist Georgy Demidov, who chronicled his own harrowing experiences in the gulag from the late 1930s until the early 1950s, “Two Prosecutors” unfolds with ominous efficiency.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
He has five close childhood friends he affectionately calls knuckleheads, although a couple are doctors and one is an atomic physicist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
To a physicist, mass and weight are two quite different things.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
