educated
Americanadjective
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having undergone education.
educated people.
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characterized by or displaying qualities of culture and learning.
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based on some information or experience.
an educated estimate of next year's sales.
adjective
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having an education, esp a good one
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displaying culture, taste, and knowledge; cultivated
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(prenominal) based on experience or information (esp in the phrase an educated guess )
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of educated
Explanation
If you're educated, you've been to school or college, or otherwise been instructed or trained. Using long, fancy words will either make people think you're educated or that you're a show-off. When you make an educated decision about something, you've learned about the subject before making up your mind — you've been educated or educated yourself, and you understand it completely. An educated conversation or debate about a topic is one in which both sides have knowledge about the issues. Educated comes from educate, with its Latin root, educare, which means both "educate" and "bring up or rear children."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“When you create a great quality of place that’s how you get mobile, educated, young talent,” Fleisher said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The common denominator for all of the editions is audiences who are more upscale and better educated than the average TV viewer, he added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
It was like they saw it as bragging, like ‘Ugh, fine, we get it, you’re educated.’
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
He was educated at Ampleforth College and read English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was President of the Union.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
I think he said some more stuff after that, going on about magnet facts and educated guesses, but I wasn’t listening anymore.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
