ethicist

noun

eth·​i·​cist ˈe-thə-sist 

: a specialist in ethics

Examples of ethicist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Research by Kate Darling, a robot ethicist who studied human/robot interaction at the MIT Media Lab for about 15 years, has also found that names and backstories make people hesitate to hurt robots, Dames notes. — Jennifer Byrne, Popular Science, 4 Nov. 2026

Most ethicists and scientists who spoke to STAT wouldn’t go as far as Pennings. — Megan Molteni, STAT, 3 Nov. 2026

Where the thresholds sit, which harms count, who audits what – that’s for legislators, lawyers, technologists and ethicists to decide. — Giorgos Tsetis, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026

What’s needed is some mix of ethicists, physicists, philosophers, legal scholars, historians, cultural anthropologists, engineers, sociologists, psychologists and policymakers. — Keith Tidman, Baltimore Sun, 24 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1890, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

ethicist

noun

eth·​i·​cist ˈeth-ə-səst 

: one who specializes in or is very concerned about ethics

now ethicists must confront the unsettling question of whether to set limits on scientific inquiry

—Ricardo Sookdeo