professional

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pro·fes·sion·al / prəˈfeshənl/ • adj. 1. of, relating to, or connected with a profession: young professional people the professional schools of Yale and Harvard. 2. (of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime: a professional boxer. ∎  having or showing the skill appropriate to a professional person; competent or skillful: their music is both memorable and professional. ∎  worthy of or appropriate to a professional person: his professional expertise. ∎ inf., derog. denoting a person who persistently makes a feature of a particular activity or attribute: a professional naysayer. • n. a person engaged or qualified in a profession: professionals such as lawyers and surveyors. ∎  a person engaged in a specified activity, esp. a sport or branch of the performing arts, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. ∎  a person competent or skilled in a particular activity: she was a real professional on stage. DERIVATIVES: pro·fes·sion·al·ly / -shənl-ē/ adv.

professional in athletics: see amateur .

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