Meaning & use
pharmacist
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemedical
A health professional who prepares and dispenses medicines and advises people on their safe use.
Grammar: Countable; you can say 'a pharmacist' or 'the pharmacist' for the one in a shop.
Patterns
- ask a pharmacist
- the pharmacist at the pharmacy
- a registered pharmacist
The pharmacist explained how to take the antibiotics with food.
I asked the pharmacist whether the two medicines could be taken together.
She trained as a pharmacist and now works in a busy city center.
Word forms
| plural | pharmacists |
|---|
Common combinations
- consult a pharmacist
- If the rash doesn't improve, consult a pharmacist before trying another cream.
- registered pharmacist
- Only a registered pharmacist can dispense this controlled drug.
- pharmacist's advice
- I followed the pharmacist's advice and took the tablets after meals.
- community pharmacist
- Community pharmacists often give flu shots in the fall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chemist
- In British English, 'chemist' commonly means the same as pharmacist, especially for the shop or the person; in American English 'chemist' usually means a scientist who studies chemistry.
- druggist
- An older term used especially in American English; pharmacist is now the standard professional title.
Word family
- pharmacy noun
- A shop where medicines are sold, or the science of preparing them.
- pharmaceutical adjective
- Relating to the making and selling of medicines.
Commonly confused: pharmacist or pharmacologist?
pharmacist vs pharmacologist
A pharmacologist studies how drugs work in the body, often in a lab; a pharmacist dispenses medicines directly to patients.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'pharmacist' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A pharmacist prepares and dispenses medicines, so getting a prescription filled fits. The other options describe unrelated jobs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pharmacist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.