lecture
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a discourse on a particular subject given or read to an audience
-
the text of such a discourse
-
a method of teaching by formal discourse
-
a lengthy reprimand or scolding
verb
-
to give or read a lecture (to an audience or class)
-
(tr) to reprimand at length
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lecturesimple
-
lecturessimple
-
have lecturedperfect
-
has lecturedperfect
-
am lecturingprogressive
-
are lecturingprogressive
-
is lecturingprogressive
-
have been lecturingperfect progressive
-
has been lecturingperfect progressive
Past
-
lecturedsimple
-
had lecturedperfect
-
was lecturingprogressive
-
were lecturingprogressive
-
had been lecturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lecture
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin lēctūra “a reading”; see lection, -ure
Explanation
When your teacher stands up in front of you and teaches by talking about the latest chapter you've read or explaining how to do a new math problem - he is giving a lecture. A lecture is most often used to describe a method of teaching, particularly popular in college, where professors give organized talks as lessons to large groups of students. It is not quite as positive when children level the term at their parents — "Don't lecture me!" — for criticizing their clothes, their friends or their music. Lecture can also be used to describe any public talk, most often by an expert.
Vocabulary lists containing lecture
The Vocabulary of College
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"The Treasure of Lemon Brown"
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Guts
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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:
The team's latest discoveries were recently presented during a public lecture series held at the University of Barcelona's Faculty of Philology and Communication in the Gabriel Oliver room.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
“It’s a sage on the stage in a lecture hall.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Some said they are learning more in a single month within the fast-moving startup ecosystem than during an entire semester in lecture halls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Over the summer, the justices often go on vacation or on the lecture circuit.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
In fact, it was the lecture by Mrs. Worthington that had prompted Penelope’s interest in ferns to begin with.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
He attends lectures at the University of Toronto by Marshall McLuhan.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Another prohibits giving lectures in public parks without city permission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
In the context of a state fair, these lectures couldn’t hold the crowd’s attention.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
This enthusiasm occasionally causes the book to slip between the boundary of novel and textbook—at one point, a scientist lectures poor Felix on the science of sound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
As I walked home carrying the heavy manuscript, I remembered attending one of Dr. Kerry’s lectures, which he had begun by writing, “Who writes history?” on the blackboard.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
The people who get lectured about “energy sobriety” and told to endure, she likes to point out, are rarely the ones with cool offices and cool cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
“In case anyone is like, ‘I don’t want to be lectured at,’ or I don’t want to do all this work, it feels like you’re just having fun with friends,” Lim says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
Badenoch was born in London but spent much of her childhood in Nigeria, as well as the United States, where her mother lectured.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
She was also officer of several technical societies and lectured on technical analysis around the world.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 17, 2025
She later lectured on the fine arts and published a weekly art journal.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Like many advisers, DeLarme understands that lecturing about the risks of stock picking can fall flat.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
However, some social media users saw this as exactly the kind of colonial lecturing he said that France had moved away from, while others argued he was within his rights.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
Both the Pentagon and the Vatican denied a report, published in the Free Press last week, that the meeting was tense, with Colby lecturing the cardinal on U.S. military power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Yes, the company is working with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, whose 18 researchers and lecturing staff foster Indigenous scholarship.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025
He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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.
