classmate
Americannoun
-
classmates
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of classmate
Explanation
Your classmate is someone who goes to school with you. It's hard to believe when you first start college that some of your classmates will become your very best friends. Your school friends are your classmates, and so are the fellow students you barely know at all. In a small class, you get to know most of your classmates fairly well, while in a large lecture even your teacher might not know all your classmates' names. The word dates from the 18th century, a combination of class, from the Latin classis, "class or division," and mate, "fellow or comrade."
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:
One classmate decided it’d be fun to raid my cubbyhole, fish out my report card, read it aloud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
In high school, Becerra convinced a classmate to hand over their unused application to Stanford University rather than throw it away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Officials said earlier he faced academic-related stress and a classmate said he was bullied.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
"A friend, family member, coworker, classmate, or acquaintance may recognise these patterns of expression and possess information that could help identify the individual responsible," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
John-Isaac sat by Uncle Darnell like he was visiting a sick classmate in St. John’s Hospital.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
In Shijiazhuang, an industrial city of seven million northeast of Dazhai, 20-year-old Wang Zhihao and his classmates posed with a giant Mao statue opposite the municipal government.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
But even that outdoor time was sometimes withheld when her classmates “behaved poorly”—a common disciplinary tactic that the national guidance recommends against.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
Ten years ago, I went with my older daughter and a group of her classmates to see Gloria Steinem speak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
It was not until she was an adult, when former classmates began sharing their experiences, that some found relief.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
All she did was lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling or at the poem she couldn’t bring herself to recite in front of her classmates.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
