See Also: Professional(money)
professional(dictionary)
ethics, professional(medicine)
professional autonomy(medicine)
professional competence(medicine)
professional corporations(medicine)
professional impairment(medicine)
Due Professional Care(money)
semi-professional(dictionary)
Professional Corporation(law)

professional (iou)



professional adjective & noun. LME.
[from PROFESSION + -AL1.]
A. adjective.
Marking entrance into a religious order. rare. Only in LME.
Of, pertaining to, or proper to a profession. M18.
S. Biko Professional possibilities for blacks. R. Whelan Both his professional and his family life. Journal of Theological Studies An element of professional envy..between humanists and theologians.
Engaged in a profession, esp. one requiring advanced knowledge or training. L18.
J. Diski Functional but elegant, an ideal place for a professional couple.
Engaged in a specified occupation or activity for money or as a means of earning a living, rather than as a pastime. L18.
J. Simms A professional musician. M. Chabon He was a professional golfer. J. B. Morton Professional hecklers (1s. per hour) sent by his opponents.
b. Of a sports match etc.: undertaken or engaged in for money. M19.
c. Engaged in a specified activity regarded with disfavour; habitual. derog. L19.
d. Having or showing the skill of a professional person, competent; worthy of a professional person. E20.
D. Francis A professional job: no amateur could have produced that. Daily Mail Those..guiding university students..were highly professional.
e. Of, done by, or of a type or standard used by a person in a (particular) profession. M20.
Wireless World Professional audio amplifiers. K. Vonnegut The wisdom to seek professional help.
Professorial. rare. L18-M19.
Special collocations: professional class(es) = professional middle class below. professional foul a deliberate foul in football and other games, to prevent an opponent or opposing team from scoring. professional middle class(es) people engaged in (skilled) professions regarded collectively.
b. noun.
A person who makes a profession of an occupation or activity usually engaged in as a pastime. Opp. amateur. E19.
G. B. Shaw Johnson..boxes with professionals.
b. spec. A prostitute. M19.
A person engaged in a profession, esp. one requiring advanced knowledge or training. M19.
J. Barth Only a hardened professional could sleep..during a battle. Highlife Docklands..for the new urban professionals to live in.
A person highly skilled or competent in some activity or field. M20.
Business Week Real professionals and sophisticated investors. A. Massie A professional in literature.
professio'nality noun = PROFESSIONALISM 1 M19.
professionali'zation noun the action of professionalizing an occupation etc. E20.
professionalize verb trans. make (an occupation etc.) professional M19.
professionally adverb in a professional manner, as a professional, (professionally speaking: see SPEAK verb) L18.