Ivy League

noun

1. a group of colleges and universities in the northeastern U.S., consisting of Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown, having a reputation for high scholastic achievement and social prestige.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ivy League colleges or their students and graduates.

Ivy League

noun

1. 1. a group of eight universities (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth College, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale) that have similar academic and social prestige in the US to Oxford and Cambridge in Britain

   2. ( as modifier )

      an Ivy-League education

Ivy League

1. A group of eight old, distinguished colleges and universities in the East, known for their ivy-covered brick buildings. The members of the Ivy League are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale Universities; Dartmouth College; and the University of Pennsylvania.

Other Word Forms

• Ivy Leaguer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ivy League¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Analytically minded front offices, full of Ivy League data wonks with little or no playing experience, have far less reverence for baseball orthodoxy and have begun looking for talent in unusual places.

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For generations, the Ivy League looked down its nose at the very idea of a football playoff.

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A new report looks at grade inflation, a problem that is proliferating far beyond the Ivy League.

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He said Ford is struggling to hire mechanics at salaries that Ivy League grads might envy.

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To no surprise, the nation’s top investment-banking and consulting firms descend on elite schools to find the brightest minds—a pilgrimage that explains why Wall Street is packed with Ivy League alumni.

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