engineer
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A person who designs and builds large projects like roads or bridges
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehnjuhnirSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɛndʒəˈnɪɹ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
by extension
A person professionally engaged in the technical design and construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges, buildings, harbours, railways, roads, etc.; a civil engineer.
by extension
Originally, a person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; now (more generally), a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so.
by extensionoften derogatory
A person who formulates plots or schemes; a plotter, a schemer.
by extension
A person trained to operate an engine.
An honorific title given to engineers before their name.
by extension
Preceded by a qualifying word: a person who uses abilities or knowledge to manipulate events or people.
verb
transitive
To employ one's abilities and knowledge as an engineer to design, construct, and/or maintain (something, such as a machine or a structure), usually for industrial or public use.
“He engineered the water supply project.”
Plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
transitive
To plan or achieve (a goal) by contrivance or guile; to finagle, to wangle.
intransitive
To formulate plots or schemes; to plot, to scheme.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person professionally engaged in the technical design and construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges, buildings, harbours, railways, roads, etc.; a civil engineer.
Used this way, engineer is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work.
The practical application of technical and scientific knowledge to commerce or industry.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A technical school offering instruction in many industrial arts and applied sciences.
The discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems.
The branch of engineering that deals with the construction of buildings (as distinguished from architecture as a design art).
A member of the military who is trained in engineering and construction work.
An engineer concerned with the design and construction of automobiles.
The activity of designing and constructing automobiles.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- designernoun
- architectnoun
- designingnoun
- locomotivenoun
- surveyornoun
- businessmannoun
- engineeringnoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: person professionally engaged in the technical design and construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.