cum laude

American  

[koom lou-dey, -duh, -dee, kuhm law-dee] / kʊm ˈlaʊ deɪ, -də, -di, kʌm ˈlɔ di /

adverb

1. with honor: used in diplomas to grant the lowest of three special honors for grades above the average.

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cum laude British  

/ kʊm ˈlaʊdeɪ, kʌm ˈlɔːdɪ /

adverb

1. with praise: the lowest of three designations for above-average achievement in examinations Compare magna cum laude summa cum laude

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Etymology

Origin of cum laude

1890–95, < Latin: with praise

Example Sentences

She enrolled in classes at Emory at 16 and then transferred to Barnard where she majored in creative writing, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

Fugate is a self-described “Trumplican” who interned for state lawmakers in Austin before graduating magna cum laude a year ago with a degree in politics and law from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2025

Mangione graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2024

She graduated summa cum laude from Michigan, earned her doctoral degree at MIT, where she first started her work on black hole imaging in 2013, then became a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2024

He’d grown up in New York City, gone to yeshiva schools, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania magna cum laude, and then with honors from Harvard Law School.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis