professor

noun

pro·​fes·​sor prə-ˈfe-sər 

1

: one that professes, avows, or declares

2

a

: a faculty member of the highest academic rank at an institution of higher education

b

: a teacher at a university, college, or sometimes secondary school

c

: one that teaches or professes special knowledge of an art, sport, or occupation requiring skill

professorship

prə-ˈfe-sər-ˌship 

noun

Examples of professor in a Sentence

Professor Williams will be teaching the class.

Recent Examples on the Web

These types of moves for iconic American companies can highlight the power of the brand, Alexander Chernev, a marketing professor at Northwestern University, told CNN. — Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 8 July 2026

Shockingly, the letter seems to be pushing for a return to standardized tests by, in effect, arguing that a growing percentage of their students are simply too stupid to succeed, no matter what professors do. — Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

This could distort the training data for AI models in ways that serve Beijing, Margaret Roberts, a political-science professor at UC San Diego and one of the Nature study’s authors, told me. — Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026

With this in mind, Kate Crawford, a researcher at Microsoft Research and a professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg, has questioned whether copyright is the right legal framework for these questions around livelihood and labor. — Zoey Forbes, The Dial, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing professor

• assistant professor
• associate professor
• regius professor

Rhymes for professor

• aggressor
• assessor
• compressor
• confessor
• depressor
• hairdresser
• necessar
• oppressor
• possessor
• processor
• repressor
• successor

Kids Definition

professor

noun

pro·​fes·​sor prə-ˈfes-ər 

: a teacher especially of the highest rank at a college or university

professorial

ˌprō-fə-ˈsōr-ē-əl 

ˌpräf-ə-, 

-ˈsȯr-

adjective

professorially

-ē-ə-lē 

adverb