professor
noun
Simple meaning
The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pruhfehserSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹəˈfɛsɚ
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
The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
The puppeteer who performs a Punch and Judy show; a Punchman.
The title for someone who holds the job of professor.
USPhilippinesinformal
Someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
Used this way, professor is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in academic writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use professor
- “The professor lectured on ancient history for two hours.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A professor of the highest rank.
Holder of a British professorship created by a royal patron.
A teacher or lower rank than an associate professor.
A professor visiting another college or university to teach for a limited time.
A teacher lower in rank than a full professor but higher than an assistant professor.
Someone who teaches English.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The position of professor.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “professor” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.