postdoctoral

adjective

post·​doc·​tor·​al ˌpōs(t)-ˈdäk-t(ə-)rəl 

ˈpōst-ˌdäk-

variants or less commonly postdoctorate

ˌpōs(t)-ˈdäk-t(ə-)rət 

ˈpōst-ˌdäk-

: being beyond the doctoral level:

a

: of or relating to advanced academic or professional work beyond a doctor's degree

a postdoctoral fellowship

b

: engaged in such work

postdoctoral scholars

Examples of postdoctoral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Vigorous exercise makes that impossible, said Audrey Collins, a postdoctoral research scientist at AdventHealth Research Institute and the paper’s co-lead author. —Paul Von Zielbauer, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2025

Bicknell, a postdoctoral researcher in the American Museum of Natural History’s division of paleontology. —Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 16 May 2025

Armstrong said — along with Ahmed Bou-Rabee (opens a new tab), his postdoctoral researcher at Courant. —Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 16 May 2025

Badar Khan Suri, the postdoctoral scholar and professor at Georgetown University who was arrested and targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, has been released. —Gary Grumbach, NBC news, 14 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for postdoctoral

• epidural
• predoctoral
• deferral
• referral
• neral
• squirrel
• sural