What does ophthalmologist mean?
Word: Ophthalmologist
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Ophthalmologist means a doctor who specialises in the eyes and can treat eye diseases and do eye operations.
Synonyms: eye specialist, eye surgeon
How do you spell ophthalmologist?
Syllables: oph - thal - mol - o - gist
Tricky part: The start is ph followed by th: o-p-h-t-h. Many people say op-thal, so they leave out the h after p and write opthalmologist.
Watch out for: opthalmologist, ophtalmologist, ophthalmalogist
Memory tip: Two h's at the start, one after p and one after t: oPHTHalmologist. Remember PH-TH as a pair of twins.
Ophthalmologist in a sentence
Example 1: The ophthalmologist put drops in my eyes to widen the pupils before the check-up.
Example 2: If your vision becomes blurred suddenly, see an ophthalmologist quickly.
Example 3: Ophthalmologists use a slit lamp to look closely inside the eye.
Fun Fact
The word is built from the Greek word for eye plus logist, someone who studies a subject, so it simply means an eye expert.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our neighbour visited an ophthamologist because her eyesight was getting worse.
a) eyesight
b) ophthamologist
c) neighbour
d) worse
Show answer
b) ophthamologist. An l comes after ophtha: oph-thal-mol-o-gist.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) ophthalmologist
b) optisian
c) surjeon
d) pharmasist
Show answer
a) ophthalmologist. Optician has a c, pharmacist a c before ist, and surgeon a g, so those three are wrong.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
oaoplhlhtigtosm
a) pathologist
b) mythologist
c) ophthalmology
d) ophthalmologist
Show answer
d) ophthalmologist. Ophthalmology would need a y, which the jumble does not have; its s, i and t make the ist ending.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which eye problem is an ophthalmologist most likely to treat with an operation?
a) a cloudy lens from a cataract
b) tired eyes after reading
c) a speck of dust in the eye
d) slight short sight
Show answer
a) a cloudy lens from a cataract
2. What did an ophthalmologist study first, before training in eyes?
a) medicine, to become a doctor
b) nursing, to care for patients
c) optometry, to test eyesight
d) chemistry, to make medicines
Show answer
a) medicine, to become a doctor
