researcher

UK /rɪˈsɜː.tʃə/ US /rɪˈsɝː.tʃɚ/ Syllables: re-search-er

Pronunciation

Noun A2 Elementary Neutral

A person who carries out careful study or investigation into a subject.

A researcher is a person whose job is to study a subject carefully and find out new facts about it. Researchers work in universities, hospitals, companies and libraries. Some run experiments in a laboratory, some interview people, and some read old documents. You can also act as a researcher without the job title: anyone who looks up the facts before a big decision is doing research. The word is common in news stories and school writing.

"The researcher spent years studying coral reefs."

Meanings

A person who carries out careful study to discover facts or test ideas.
A person employed to find information for others, such as for a writer or a television program.

Example sentences

"The researcher spent three years studying sleep."

Level B1, Meaning 1
"Researchers found that most students prefer short lessons."

Level B1, Meaning 1
"She works as a researcher at a children's hospital."

Level A2, Meaning 1
"The television show hired a researcher to check the facts."

Level B1, Meaning 2

Synonyms and antonyms

Synonyms

investigator scholar

Look-alikes and common mistakes

scientist : A scientist works in science. A researcher can work in any subject, including history, law and business.
scholar : A scholar studies a subject deeply, often in the humanities. A researcher is the broader word for anyone who investigates.

Word family and forms

Forms: researchers

research researched researching

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "researcher".

medical researcher
a leading researcher
market researcher
researchers found
a team of researchers
senior researcher

Origin

Researcher is research plus the ending -er, which names a person who does something. Research came into English in the 1500s from Middle French recercher, which meant to seek, and that was built from re-, meaning again, and an old French word for search.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

A researcher is someone who searches again: re plus search. They keep looking until they find the answer.

Test yourself

Which word fits the gap? "The _____ spent three years studying sleep."

Answer: researcher

In your own words, what does "researcher" mean?