career
Career meaning: CAREER names a profession or long-term calling and scores 8 Scrabble points.
Noun 4 meanings
One’s calling in life; one's working occupation or profession, especially when pursued seriously or over a long period of time.
The course, evolution, and ongoing advancement of one's working life, especially in one particular field.
“Washington’s career as a soldier”
The general course of one's action or conduct in life, or in a particular area of life.
A jouster's path during a joust.
Verb 1 meaning
To move rapidly straight ahead, especially in an uncontrolled way.
“The car careered down the road, missed the curve, and went through a hedge.”
Adjective 2 meanings
Doing something professionally, for a living (generally said of something that is not a commonplace job, e.g. criminal activity).
“a career burglar”
Synonym of serial (“doing something regularly”).
Etymology
Mid 16th century, from French carrière (“road; racecourse”), from Italian carriera, from Old Occitan carreira, from Late Latin carrāria based on Latin carrus (“wheeled vehicle”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós, from *ḱers- (“to run”); alternatively, from Middle French carriere, from Old Occitan.
Similar and opposite words
CAREER is a familiar word for the work someone pursues over time, especially a profession or serious calling. It can also describe the course of a person’s conduct, and an older sense refers to a jouster’s path. In word games, its repeated E and R tiles make the letter pattern as notable as its meaning.
Career meaning and its unusual older sense
The main career meaning is a person’s calling or occupation, particularly work pursued seriously or over a long period. The word can also mean the development of someone’s working life within a field, so it covers both the job and the path that follows.
A less familiar definition describes a jouster’s path during a joust. That older sense sits far from modern workplace talk, but it belongs to the same word. CAREER is common English, not a specialist term that only appears in game lists.
How many Scrabble points is CAREER worth?
CAREER scores 8 points before any board bonuses. Its C is worth 3; A, both Es, and both Rs are worth 1 apiece. The C supplies most of the tile value, while the five lower-value tiles complete the six-letter word.
That modest base score makes placement matter more than the word’s length. Save CAREER for a spot that adds a premium square or joins existing tiles, rather than assuming six letters guarantee a large haul. Its repeated E and R also make the rack pattern easy to inspect.
Career meaning alongside neighbours and rhymes
CAREER has no anagrams, but five words sit one letter away: CARTER, CARVER, CARPER, CARDER, and CAREEN. CAREEN is especially close in shape; it keeps the opening CAREE and changes only the final letter.
Its final sound, EER, has 12 rhymes, including BEER, DEER, CHEER, PEER, and ENGINEER. Those are sound matches, not anagrams. For a word-game move, check your game's word list before relying on a neighbour; rhyming does not establish that a word is playable in every dictionary.
A quick rack check for CAREER
CAREER and CAREEN differ only in the last tile, so if an N sits open at the end of a lane, test CAREEN as the one-letter swap before committing the R.
Rhymes with career
All rhymesOne letter away
- CARTER8
- CARVER11
- CARPER10
- CARDER9
- CAREEN8
Questions people ask
Is CAREER a valid Scrabble word?
How does CAREER score 8 Scrabble points?
What is one word that differs from CAREER by one letter?
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