educated
Americanadjective
-
having undergone education.
educated people.
-
characterized by or displaying qualities of culture and learning.
-
based on some information or experience.
an educated estimate of next year's sales.
adjective
-
having an education, esp a good one
-
displaying culture, taste, and knowledge; cultivated
-
(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.
Educated in Soviet-era Bulgaria, Cepeda has emerged as a close Petro adviser on ideology and strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
Children often learn the order of the planets in our Solar System using quirky memory phrases like "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos."
From Science Daily • May 21, 2026
Aside from service on Brevard County’s school board, Jenkins has managed a PAC called Educated We Stand over the past year.
From Salon • Sep. 10, 2025
Educated at Harvard and Oxford, the empress is a former diplomat fluent in several languages.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2024
Educated middle-class professionals never go careening half-cocked into the future, vulnerable to any surprise that might leap out at them.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
