consultancy
gb/kənsˈʌltənsi/ us/kənsˈʌltənsi/
B2
English
~ 8400
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B2
action
1
professional activity of giving expert advice
Work where a person or group gives expert advice to companies or people for money.
Usage pattern:
[someone] offers consultancy in [field]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse "consultancy" with "consultation". "Consultancy" is the type of work or business of giving expert advice over time, while a "consultation" is usually one meeting or session of giving advice. For example, "She works in consultancy" (type of work), but "I had a consultation with a lawyer" (one meeting).
Synonyms
consulting (Very close in meaning; often used more in American English, while "consultancy" is slightly more common in British English for the activity.)
|
advisory work (More general and slightly more formal; does not always imply a formal business arrangement.)
Collocations
management consultancy
|IT consultancy
|offer consultancy
|consultancy services
|specialist consultancy
|consultancy work
Themes
business
|work
|economy
Examples
- She moved into environmental consultancy after completing her PhD.
- The report was produced as part of a year‑long consultancy for the World Bank.
- He runs his own consultancy in risk management for financial institutions.
- The government hired an external consultancy to review the project.
- Most of her income now comes from freelance consultancy in the tech sector.
Learner examples
- He does consultancy in marketing for small companies.
- After ten years in banking, she started a consultancy in finance.
- The city paid for a consultancy to study traffic problems.
- Consultancy can pay well if you have special skills.
- I want to work in IT consultancy after university.
Noun
B2
entity
2
company that provides expert advice
A business that sells expert advice to other companies or people.
Usage pattern:
a consultancy in [field]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes say "consultancy company" or "consultancy office" when "consultancy" alone is enough, as it already means a company. For example, "She works at a consultancy", not usually "She works at a consultancy company".
Synonyms
consulting firm (Near-identical in meaning; slightly more common in American English than "consultancy".)
|
advisory firm (Emphasizes the advice-giving role; often used in finance and legal contexts.)
Antonyms
in-house department (Refers to a part of a company that does the work internally rather than hiring an external consultancy.)
Collocations
consultancy firm
|set up a consultancy
|run a consultancy
|boutique consultancy
|global consultancy
|strategy consultancy
Themes
business
|work
|economy
Examples
- They hired a London‑based consultancy to redesign their brand strategy.
- She works for a small HR consultancy that helps startups with recruitment.
- The government contract was awarded to an international engineering consultancy.
- He left the big four firm to start his own consultancy.
- Several consultancies have expressed interest in bidding for the project.
Learner examples
- My sister works at a management consultancy.
- The company asked a design consultancy to create a new logo.
- They want to start a small IT consultancy together.
- We used a local consultancy for the market study.
- A big consultancy opened an office in our city.
Grammar
Dictionary form
consultancy
IPA
GB/kənsˈʌltənsi/
US/kənsˈʌltənsi/
Syllables & stress
con - sultancy (2 syllables)
Stress on 2nd syllable (sultancy)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: consultancy
- Plural: consultancies
Word family
Forms
consultancies
noun
Core family
Related words
consultative
adjective
consulting
adjective
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.