professional
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Doing something as a paid job, or done to a high standard.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pruhfehshuhnuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹəˈfɛʃənəl
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
A person who belongs to a profession.
A person who earns their living from a specified activity.
An expert.
One of four categories of sociologist propounded by Horowitz: a sociologist who is actively concerned with promoting the profession of sociology.
A reputation known by name.
adjective
Of or relating to a profession
Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession.
That is carried out for money, especially as a livelihood.
by extension
Expert.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person who belongs to a profession.
Used this way, professional is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
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.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
In a professional manner.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Football played for pay.
Playing golf for money.
Someone who earns a living by playing or teaching golf.
A career in industrial or commercial or professional activities.
An organization of and for professional people.
An organization of and for professional people.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The expertness characteristic of a professional person.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
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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.