Meaning & use
astrophysicist
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A scientist who studies the physical nature of stars, planets, and other objects in space.
Grammar: Countable: 'an astrophysicist', 'two astrophysicists'.
Patterns
- a famous astrophysicist
- work as an astrophysicist
- astrophysicists study something
My cousin is an astrophysicist at a university in California.
Astrophysicists use telescopes and computers to test their ideas.
The astrophysicist explained black holes in a way children could follow.
Word forms
| plural | astrophysicists |
|---|
Common combinations
- a leading astrophysicist
- A leading astrophysicist gave the opening lecture.
- become an astrophysicist
- She decided to become an astrophysicist after seeing a meteor shower.
- a team of astrophysicists
- A team of astrophysicists confirmed the finding.
- theoretical astrophysicist
- As a theoretical astrophysicist, he works mainly with equations.
Synonyms and how they differ
- astronomer
- The broader job title; an astronomer may observe or classify objects, while an astrophysicist focuses on the physics behind them.
- cosmologist
- A specialist in the origin and large-scale structure of the universe, which is only one part of what an astrophysicist may study.
Word family
- astrophysics noun
- The science that this person works in.
- astrophysical adjective
- Relating to astrophysics.
- physicist noun
- A scientist who studies matter, energy, and forces.
Commonly confused: astrophysicist or astrologer? astrophysicist or astronaut?
astrophysicist vs astrologer
An astrologer claims to read people's futures from the positions of stars; an astrophysicist studies space scientifically.
astrophysicist vs astronaut
An astronaut travels into space, while an astrophysicist usually studies it from the ground.
Practice
Which sentence uses astrophysicist correctly?
Choose one answer.
An astrophysicist is a scientist, so studying how stars produce energy fits. Option 1 describes an astronaut, option 3 treats the word as a food, and option 4 wrongly uses it for a language speaker.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “astrophysicist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.