Meanings
plural postdocs
- informalA postdoctoral academic research position.
- informalSomeone in such a position.
Many of the postdocs are almost 40 before they start their first permanent positions and begin saving for retirement.
2001 August 21, Jennifer 8. Lee, “Postdoc Trail: Long and Filled With Pitfalls”, in The New York Times2 more examples
"We have to sing for our supper, and that's something the young people are coming to terms with," said Dr. Robin Erbacher, 33, a postdoc at Fermilab.
2001 July 24, James Glanz, “To Be Young and in Search of the Higgs Boson”, in The New York TimesTwo successful applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in an SCN- and cell-type-specific fashion [5] will all but certainly add to the common refrain of 'just CRISPR it' (grad students and postdocs, insert groan here).
2017 May 28, Marc D. Ruben, John B. Hogenesch, “Circadian Rhythms: Move over neurons—astrocytes mediate SCN clock function”, in Current Biology, volume 27, number 9
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna scholar or researcher who is involved in academic study beyond the level of a doctoral degree
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Clipping of postdoctoral.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 博士後 /博士后, 博後 /博后
- 博士後 /博士后 (bó shì hòu)a postdoctoral academic research position
- 博後 /博后 (bóhòu)a postdoctoral academic research position
Finnish tutkijatohtorin tehtävä, postdokki
- tutkijatohtorin tehtäväa postdoctoral academic research position
- postdokkia postdoctoral academic research position
- tutkijatohtoria postdoctoral researcher
- postdokkia postdoctoral researcher
Icelandic nýdoktor
- nýdoktora postdoctoral academic research position
Italian ricercatore postdottorato, ricercatore post-dottorato
- ricercatore postdottoratoa postdoctoral academic research position
- ricercatore post-dottoratoa postdoctoral researcher
Japanese ポスドク, 博士研究員
- ポスドク (posudoku)a postdoctoral academic research position
- 博士研究員 (hakushi kenkyūin)a postdoctoral academic research position
Korean 박사후연구원
- 박사후연구원 (baksahuyeon'guwon)a postdoctoral academic research position
Polish doktor habilitowany, doktor habilitowany
- doktor habilitowanya postdoctoral academic research position
- doktor habilitowanya postdoctoral researcher
Russian нау́чный сотру́дник с учёной степенью
- нау́чный сотру́дник с учёной степенью (naúčnyj sotrúdnik s učónoj stepenʹju)a postdoctoral academic research position
Spanish postdoctor
- postdoctora postdoctoral researcher
Swedish postdoktorstjänst, postdoktor
- postdoktorstjänsta postdoctoral academic research position
- postdoktora postdoctoral researcher
Cite this entry
postdoc. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postdoc
“postdoc.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postdoc. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “postdoc,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postdoc.
Source: postdoc on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.