Academy Award

American

Trademark.

an annual award given to a performer, director, technician, etc., of the motion-picture industry for superior achievement in a specific category: judged by the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and symbolized by the presentation of an Oscar.

Academy Award British

noun

the official name for an Oscar

"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

Etymology

Origin of Academy Award

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

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.

See Examples For:

Academy Award

He has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, first for “Top Gun” and again for “The Thin Red Line.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

It is the director's first movie since 2023's Oppenheimer, which won the Academy Award for best picture.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Sebastian Junger, author of the book “War” and co-director of the Academy Award nominated documentary “Restrepo,” writes the “Tribe with Sebastian Junger” Substack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

She was the first Irish female actor to win an Academy Award.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

And then if I ever win an Academy Award, I’m thanking them onstage.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023