actuary

noun

ac·​tu·​ary ˈak-chə-ˌwer-ē 

-shə-, 

-ˌwe-rē-

plural actuaries

1

obsolete : clerk, registrar

2

: a person who calculates insurance and annuity premiums, reserves, and dividends

Examples of actuary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The actuary points at the first; the civil-rights lawyer points at the second; and for two decades the standoff mostly stayed put, because no regulator made anyone resolve it on paper. —Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026

Yet surveys as far back as the mid‑2010s found that only about 30% of workers aged 55 and older had accumulated $250,000 or more in retirement savings, even as actuaries were projecting 25‑ to 30‑year retirements as increasingly common. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 June 2026

My colleague Bob Herman has been asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services multiple times how much the agency’s actuaries and experts predict the program will cost over its 18-month duration. —Allison Deangelis, STAT, 1 June 2026

Another troubling factor for actuaries is the late posting of a key regulation that sets the next year's rules for ACA health plans. —Julie Appleby, CBS News, 19 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin āctuārius "shorthand writer, keeper of accounts," alteration (with -u- from the u-stem action noun āctus) of *āctārius, from āctum "public transaction, record" + -ārius -ary entry 1 — more at act entry 1

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for actuary

• abc
• absentee
• addressee
• adoptee
• allottee
• amphorae
• amputee
• apc
• apogee
• appointee
• assessee
• assignee

Kids Definition

actuary

noun

ac·​tu·​ary ˈak-chə-ˌwer-ē 

-shə-

plural actuaries

: a person who calculates insurance premiums and dividends

actuarial

ˌak-chə-ˈwer-ē-əl

adjective

Legal Definition

actuary

noun

ac·​tu·​ary ˈak-chə-ˌwer-ē, -shə- 

plural actuaries

: a person who calculates insurance and annuity premiums, reserves, and dividends