Meaning & use
analyst
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to study information carefully and explain what it means.
Grammar: Countable and often preceded by the field: a data analyst.
Patterns
- an analyst at somewhere
- an analyst for something
The data analyst found a pattern in the sales figures.
An analyst at the bank predicted slower growth.
She works as a policy analyst for the city council.
nouncountable
A person who gives expert opinions on events, especially in sport, politics or business, on the news.
Grammar: Countable; the news often says analysts say.
Patterns
- analysts say that
- a political analyst
Analysts expect the team to win the title.
A political analyst explained the election result.
The sports analyst broke down the final play.
nouncountablespecialist
A therapist who treats patients using psychoanalysis.
Grammar: Short for psychoanalyst, used in therapy settings.
Patterns
- see an analyst
He has been seeing an analyst for two years.
The analyst listened as she described her dreams.
Her analyst suggested she keep a journal.
Word forms
| plural | analysts |
|---|
Common combinations
- financial analyst
- A financial analyst reviewed the company's accounts.
- data analyst
- The data analyst built a dashboard.
- market analyst
- A market analyst said prices would rise.
- senior analyst
- She became a senior analyst after five years.
- analysts predict
- Analysts predict a sharp rise in demand.
Synonyms and how they differ
- researcher
- A researcher collects new information, while an analyst interprets existing data.
- commentator
- A commentator gives opinions, often on air, while an analyst is expected to rely on detailed study.
- expert
- Expert is broad and says only that a person knows a lot, while analyst names a role of examining information.
- statistician
- A statistician specializes in the mathematics of data, a narrower field than analyst.
Word family
- analyze verb
- to examine in detail
- analysis noun
- detailed examination of something
- analytical adjective
- using careful examination and reasoning
- analytics noun
- the use of data to find useful patterns
Commonly confused: analyst or analyst? analyst or annalist?
analyst vs analyst
Do not confuse it with analyses, the plural of analysis, which sounds similar but is a thing, not a person.
analyst vs annalist
An annalist is a person who records yearly events, a rare word with a similar spelling.
Practice
Which person is most likely to be called an analyst?
Choose one answer.
An analyst studies information and explains what it means, which matches reviewing spending data. The other jobs are not about analyzing information.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “analyst”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.