educated
Americanadjective
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having undergone education.
educated people.
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characterized by or displaying qualities of culture and learning.
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based on some information or experience.
an educated estimate of next year's sales.
adjective
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having an education, esp a good one
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displaying culture, taste, and knowledge; cultivated
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(prenominal) based on experience or information (esp in the phrase an educated guess )
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of educated
Explanation
If you're educated, you've been to school or college, or otherwise been instructed or trained. Using long, fancy words will either make people think you're educated or that you're a show-off. When you make an educated decision about something, you've learned about the subject before making up your mind — you've been educated or educated yourself, and you understand it completely. An educated conversation or debate about a topic is one in which both sides have knowledge about the issues. Educated comes from educate, with its Latin root, educare, which means both "educate" and "bring up or rear children."
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.
Children often learn the order of the planets in our Solar System using quirky memory phrases like "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos."
From Science Daily • May 21, 2026
Educated at a local Christian school, he was drawn early to the ideas of revolution and Naga nationalism.
From BBC • Oct. 27, 2025
Educated in elite schools, Garland had come to believe that unearned wealth was immoral and told the world that he planned to renounce his legacy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025
Aside from service on Brevard County’s school board, Jenkins has managed a PAC called Educated We Stand over the past year.
From Salon • Sep. 10, 2025
Educated children never offered excuses—certainly not childhood itself.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
