Professional Life and Occupations: English Vocabulary List

to meet or bring together a group of people for an official meeting

"The committee will convene tomorrow."

"The committee will convene next Tuesday morning to discuss the proposed budget for the upcoming year."

involving or done by two or more parties working together toward a shared goal

"The project is collaborative."

"The project is collaborative and involves three different departments working together as a team."

extremely tiring and demanding strenuous effort and perseverance

"The race was grueling."

"The marathon was a grueling test of endurance and only half of the runners managed to cross the finish line before the cutoff time."

extremely busy and chaotic

"My schedule is hectic."

"Her schedule was so hectic that she barely had time to eat lunch between meetings and appointments all day long."

repeatedly starting and stopping, in short, irregular intervals

"We have intermittent rain."

"We have intermittent rain today with sunny breaks between the showers every few hours."

(of work) not requiring special skills, often considered unimportant and poorly paid

"He does menial work."

"The menial tasks like cleaning and filing were assigned to the interns while the managers worked on more important projects."

requiring a lot of effort and time

"The work is painstaking."

"The artist did painstaking work on the portrait and she spent over one hundred hours painting every single detail of the face."

(of a plane, ship, or boat) hired for a special purpose

"We took a chartered flight."

"The company arranged for a chartered yacht to transport its executives to the island."

a skilled craftsperson who creates objects partly or entirely by hand

"Skilled local artisan."

"The skilled artisan worked for many hours to create the handmade furniture with great care."

an officer in a court of law whose responsibility is to keep order, watch prisoners, etc.

"The bailiff entered the room."

"The bailiff maintained order in the courtroom and ensured all defendants were present."

a person whose responsibility is to manage the finances of a school, college, or university

"The bursar handles college fees."

"The bursar's office handles student tuition payments and disburses financial aid to qualified individuals."

an official appointed by a government to represent that government in a foreign city

"The French consul attended the ceremony."

"The foreign consul helped his citizens during the emergency in the country."

‌a person, especially an official, whose role or job is to kill convicted people as a means of punishment

"The executioner carried out the sentence ordered by the court."

"An executioner is the official who inflicts capital punishment on a condemned person"

a person whose profession is to kill certain types of animals or insects that are not wanted in a place

"We called an exterminator to get rid of the ants."

"The pest exterminator came to the house to remove the cockroaches last week."

a person whose job is to find and approach skillful people that fit a specific job and persuade them to take a higher position

"A headhunter found him a new executive job."

"The executive headhunter found a perfect candidate for the important position in the company."

someone who operates a machine, especially an industrial one

"The machinist repaired the broken engine."

"The skilled machinist operates complex machines in the factory every day."

a skilled craftsman who works with stone, brick, or concrete to build structures such as walls, buildings, etc.

"The mason built a stone wall."

"The stone mason built a strong wall using traditional techniques last month."

a person, particularly a woman, whose occupation is helping a woman during childbirth

"The midwife assisted with the birth."

"The experienced midwife helped many women give birth safely last year."

someone who prepares dead bodies for burial or cremation and arranges funerals as their job

"The mortician prepared the body."

"The skilled mortician handled all funeral arrangements with great professionalism."

an executive officer whose rank is just below the rank of the president of a country and who can act in place of the president in certain cases to fulfill presidential duties

"The vice president led the nation."

"The company vice president made an important announcement during the meeting yesterday."

the minimum number of people that must be present for a meeting to officially begin or for decisions to be made

"The meeting lacked a quorum."

"The committee postponed voting because a legal quorum was not present yesterday."

an association of people who work in the same industry or have similar goals or interests

"Medieval craft guild."

"The local guild of artisans organized a fair to showcase their handmade crafts and traditional skills."

a reduction in one's rank, position, or status, often as a form of punishment

"His demotion to a lower rank was humiliating."

"He received a demotion after making several serious mistakes at work last month."

a person who works compulsively and finds it hard to stop working to do other things

"The workaholic never takes a day off."

"He is an extreme workaholic who spends almost all his time working and rarely rests."

to stop a meeting, trial, or game in order to resume it sometime later

"The judge adjourned the court session."

"The judge decided to adjourn the court proceedings until the following morning because the key witness was too ill to testify today."

requiring a lot of mental effort and hard work

"The journey was arduous."

"The arduous journey across the mountains took three weeks and the travelers were exhausted when they finally reached the valley."

performed alone, without the involvement or companionship of others

"He lives a solitary life."

"He lives a solitary life in a small cabin in the woods far away from other people."

a person who organizes financial contributions for a cause, organization, or event

"She is a fundraiser."

"The dedicated fundraiser worked tirelessly to secure donations for the children's hospital expansion."

a person responsible for coaching, managing, or preparing athletes or sports teams

"The coach was the handler."

"The dog handler trained the German shepherd to detect explosives at airport security checkpoints."

(in the US) a person who works as the head of an urban police department

"The superintendent arrived."

"The police superintendent oversaw the investigation into the city's most complex criminal cases."