academic

American  

[ak-uh-dem-ik] / ˌæk əˈdɛm ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to a college, academy, school, or other educational institution.

   academic requirements.

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

   Synonyms:

   liberal, humanist

3. theoretical or hypothetical; not practical, realistic, or directly useful.

   an academic question;

   an academic discussion of a matter already decided.

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

   Synonyms:

   theoretical

5. conforming to set rules, standards, or traditions; conventional.

   academic painting.

6. acquired by formal education, especially at a college or university.

   academic preparation for the ministry.

7. Academic, of or relating to Academe or to the Platonic school of philosophy.

---

noun

• academics
  plural

1. a student or teacher at a college or university.

2. a person who is academic in background, attitudes, methods, etc..

   He was by temperament an academic, concerned with books and the arts.

3. Academic, a person who supports or advocates the Platonic school of philosophy.

4. academics, the scholarly activities of a school or university, as classroom studies or research projects.

   more emphasis on academics and less on athletics.

academic British  

/ ˌækəˈdɛmɪk /

adjective

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

2. of purely theoretical or speculative interest

   an academic argument

3. excessively concerned with intellectual matters and lacking experience of practical affairs

4. (esp of a schoolchild) having an aptitude for study

5. conforming to set rules and traditions; conventional

   an academic painter

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

---

noun

1. a member of a college or university

Synonym Usage

See formal.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antiacademic
  adjective
• interacademic
  adjective
• nonacademic
  adjective
• proacademic
  adjective
• pseudoacademic
  adjective
• quasi-academic
  adjective
• semiacademic
  adjective
• subacademic
  adjective
• unacademic
  adjective
• academically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• academics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of academic

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin Acadēmicus, from Greek Akadēmeikós. See academy, academe, -ic

Explanation

Something that is academic is related to school. Your parents might want to spend less time playing video games and more time focusing on academic pursuits. The noun academic refers to a professor or scholar. As a noun or an adjective, academic relates to book learning and not always in a good way. An academic discussion back in Plato's Academy was probably something better than what it has more recently come to mean: a discussion that's academic has no place in the real world; it's not practical. An academic might have a PhD in Robotics but not know how to work the TV. It doesn't have to mean stuffy, though, just related to college — like when you need an academic gown for graduation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

academic academics

Jason Arday was a celebrity academic known as much for the remarkable life story he told, of an autistic child who didn't speak until 11, or learn to read and write until 18.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Shadow communities secretary Sir James Cleverly said he was angered by the "tragic" death and said "a number of people at a number of academic institutions have serious questions to answer".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Black academic Jason Arday, who resigned from the University of Cambridge last week amid a high-profile plagiarism storm that featured racism claims, was found dead Friday, the prestigious British institution confirmed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

But after weeks of mounting evidence that Arday appeared to have repeatedly made up parts of his life story, as well as some of his academic credentials, Cambridge said it would launch an investigation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

I was realizing that the next phase of my journey would not simply unfold on its own, that my fancy academic degrees weren’t going to automatically lead me to fulfilling work.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

For many academics, including many at Cambridge, robust scrutiny of the integrity of research is a red line.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

At the Munich conference, Clark and Capocefalo met John Brockman, a literary agent of scientific books, who introduced Epstein to academics and Silicon Valley elites, according to Epstein documents recently released by the Justice Department.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The American psychologist promised the probe would look into the "circumstances" of Arday's appointment and his time in post that would include academics from "beyond Cambridge".

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

The scandal erupted after some academics and media reports accused Arday, who became Cambridge University's youngest Black professor in 2023, of plagiarizing parts of his doctoral thesis.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

But it’s not just academics who loose these zombies on the world.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• academician
• lecturer
• professor
• scholar
• student