professional
/pɹəˈfɛʃ.ə.nəl/noun, adjective
professional is spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N-A-L. The wrong spelling people search most is proffesional: about 310 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 66 of all searches for the word. Professional is a noun meaning “A person who belongs to a profession”. The plural of professional is professionals.
How many letters and syllables are in professional?
| Letters | 12: P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 112 times per million words; the 951st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, proffesional, about 310 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell professional?
Professional is spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N-A-L. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 45 of the searches for professional in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is professional?
Professional appears 112 times per million words in written English, the 951st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce professional?
- US /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ə.nəl/
- US [pɹəˈfɛʃ.nəl]
- Australia /pɹəˈfeʃ.ə.nəl/
Professional has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-professional.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with professional?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as professional from its last stressed vowel (/ɛʃənəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of professional
- professionals plural
- more professional comparative
- most professional superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does professional mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who belongs to a profession.
- 2
A white-collar worker, especially one with a specialized, high-earning job such as a doctor or engineer.
- 3
A person who earns their living from a specified activity.
- 4
A prostitute.
There was this nice lady who flirted with me at the bar, but it turned out that she was a professional.
- 5
A reputation known by name.
- 6
An expert.
- 7
One of four categories of sociologist propounded by Horowitz: a sociologist who is actively concerned with promoting the profession of sociology.
adjective
- 1
Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession.
The doctor is very professional in his manner.
- 2
Expert.
- 3
Of an occupation, paid, especially so as to provide a livelihood.
a professional musician, a professional footballer
- 4
Engaging in persistent behaviour that is exaggeratedly implied to be a full-time, paid occupation.
Don't listen to him, he's a professional bullshitter.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate professional?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of professional: Prof'l, profesh.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Professional in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Fachkraft, professionell , Profi, Professioneller, Professionelle , Berufs- |
| Portuguese | profissional |
| Spanish | profesional, profesionista , en el entorno laboral |
| French | professionnel, professionnelle |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does professional come from?
From Middle English professhennalle, professhynalle; equivalent to profession + -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).