academic

[ ak-uh-dem-ik ]

/ ˌæk əˈdɛm ɪk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR academic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or relating to a college, academy, school, or other educational institution, especially one for higher education: academic requirements.

pertaining to areas of study that are not primarily vocational or applied, as the humanities or pure mathematics.

theoretical or hypothetical; not practical, realistic, or directly useful: an academic question; an academic discussion of a matter already decided.

learned or scholarly but lacking in worldliness, common sense, or practicality.

conforming to set rules, standards, or traditions; conventional: academic painting.

acquired by formal education, especially at a college or university: academic preparation for the ministry.

(initial capital letter) of or relating to Academe or to the Platonic school of philosophy.

noun

a student or teacher at a college or university.

a person who is academic in background, attitudes, methods, etc.: He was by temperament an academic, concerned with books and the arts.

(initial capital letter) a person who supports or advocates the Platonic school of philosophy.

academics, the scholarly activities of a school or university, as classroom studies or research projects: more emphasis on academics and less on athletics.

Nearby words

acacia avenue, acad., academe, academese, academia, academic, academic costume, academic dress, academic freedom, academic gown, academic rank

Origin of academic

1580–90; < Latin Acadēmicus < Greek Akadēmeikós. See academy, academe, -ic

SYNONYMS FOR academic

2 humanistic, liberal.

4 theoretical.

5 See formal¹.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR academic ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

an·ti·ac·a·dem·ic, adjective, nounin·ter·ac·a·dem·ic, adjectivenon·ac·a·dem·ic, adjective, nounpro·ac·a·dem·ic, adjective

pseu·do·ac·a·dem·ic, adjectivequa·si-ac·a·dem·ic, adjectivesem·i·ac·a·dem·ic, adjectivesub·ac·a·dem·ic, adjectiveun·ac·a·dem·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for academics

The media and academics love to portray these voters as the typical independent when they represent less than half of them.
Yes, Independent Swing Voters Are Real. And May Decide Who Wins Elections|Linda Killian|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Breman kept calling doctors and academics, but there were no answers to be found.
The Original Ebola Hunter|Abby Haglage|September 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It would be an immediate object of, as academics often put it, “contestation.”
We've Got Bigger Problems Than a Confederate Flag|John McWhorter|August 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Indeed in 1947 a group of academics at the University of Chicago drafted a constitution for “the Federal Republic of the World.”
One U.S. Constitution Just Wasn’t Enough|Tom Arnold-Forster|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I think social banditry, as the academics call it, is a proud American tradition.
Weed Gave My Family Everything—Then Took It Away|Abby Haglage|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
However, the right to hack shouldnt only be extended to academics.
Little Brother|Cory Doctorow
Their followers were called, respectively, Academics and Cynics.
Aristotle and Ancient Educational Ideals|Thomas Davidson
They mean the realities of liberty and not the academics of theory.
The Art of Public Speaking|Dale Carnagey (AKA Dale Carnegie) and J. Berg Esenwein
But the Academics did not draw from their scepticism, as Pyrrho had done, the full logical conclusion as regards action.
A Critical History of Greek Philosophy|W. T. Stace
Moreover, the Academics had allowed the possibility of probable knowledge.
A Critical History of Greek Philosophy|W. T. Stace

British Dictionary definitions for academics

academic

/ (ˌækəˈdɛmɪk) /

adjective

belonging or relating to a place of learning, esp a college, university, or academy

of purely theoretical or speculative interestan academic argument

excessively concerned with intellectual matters and lacking experience of practical affairs

(esp of a schoolchild) having an aptitude for study

conforming to set rules and traditions; conventionalan academic painter

relating to studies such as languages, philosophy, and pure science, rather than applied, technical, or professional studies

noun

a member of a college or university

Derived Formsacademically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

academic

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of academic

Examples from the Web for academics

British Dictionary definitions for academics

academic

adjective

noun