Meaning & use
actuary
Last updated
UK/ˈæk.tʃu.ə.ri/
US/ˈæk.tʃu.er.i/
Meaning
nouncountablebusinessfinance
A professional who uses mathematics and statistics to measure financial risk, especially in insurance and pensions.
Grammar: Countable; takes a plural: two actuaries. Often qualified by field: pension actuary.
Patterns
- work as an actuary
- qualified actuary
- consult an actuary
The actuary estimated how long the fund could pay benefits.
She became an actuary after studying statistics and finance.
An actuary warned that premiums would need to rise.
Word forms
| plural | actuaries |
|---|
Common combinations
- qualified actuary
- A qualified actuary signed the annual funding report.
- actuary calculates premiums
- The actuary calculates premiums from life tables and claims data.
- insurance actuary
- An insurance actuary models the chance of major storms.
Synonyms and how they differ
- risk analyst
- Wider and less regulated; an actuary usually has professional exams and formal credentials.
- statistician
- Focuses on data methods generally; an actuary applies them mainly to long-term financial risk.
Word family
- actuarial adjective
- Relating to actuaries or their methods.
- actuarially adverb
- In an actuarial way.
Practice
Who is most likely to price a life-insurance policy?
Choose one answer.
An actuary uses statistics to price insurance risk. The other options are unrelated roles or words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “actuary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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