graduate

American  

[graj-oo-it, -eyt, graj-oo-eyt] / ˈgrædʒ u ɪt, -ˌeɪt, ˈgrædʒ uˌeɪt /

noun

• graduates
  plural

1. a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.

2. a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.

3. a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree.

   graduate courses in business; a graduate student.

2. having an academic degree or diploma.

   a graduate engineer.

verb (used without object)

• graduates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• graduated,
  past participle,  past
• graduating
  present participle

1. to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed byfrom ).

   She graduated from college in 1985.

2. to pass by degrees; change gradually.

verb (used with object)

• graduates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• graduated,
  past participle,  past
• graduating
  present participle

1. to confer a degree upon, or to grant a diploma to, at the close of a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.

   Cornell graduated eighty students with honors.

2. Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from.

   She graduated college in 1950.

3. to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.

4. to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.

graduate British  

noun

1. 1. a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college

   2. ( as modifier )

      a graduate profession

2. a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma

3. a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity

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verb

1. to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma

2. (tr) to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon

3. (tr) to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate

4. (tr) to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc

5. to change by degrees (from something to something else)

Usage

In the sense “to receive a degree or diploma” graduate followed by from is the most common construction today: Her daughter graduated from Yale in 1981. The passive form was graduated from, formerly insisted upon as the only correct pattern, has decreased in use and occurs infrequently today: My husband was graduated from West Point last year. Even though it is condemned by some as nonstandard, the use of graduate as a transitive verb meaning “to receive a degree or diploma from” is increasing in frequency in both speech and writing: The twins graduated high school in 1974.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• graduator
  noun
• nongraduate
  noun
• supergraduate
  noun
• ungraduating
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• graduates
  plural

Participles

• graduating
  present
• graduated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• graduate
  simple
• graduates
  simple
• have graduated
  perfect
• has graduated
  perfect
• am graduating
  progressive
• are graduating
  progressive
• is graduating
  progressive
• have been graduating
  perfect progressive
• has been graduating
  perfect progressive

Past

• graduated
  simple
• had graduated
  perfect
• was graduating
  progressive
• were graduating
  progressive
• had been graduating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will graduate
  simple
• will have graduated
  perfect
• will be graduating
  progressive
• will have been graduating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of graduate

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin graduātus (past participle of graduāre ), equivalent to grad ( us ) grade, step + -u- thematic vowel + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

To graduate means to successfully complete your schooling, to become "a graduate." When you graduate from high school, you become a high school graduate and congratulations are in order. A graduate is someone who has received a degree from a school. As a verb graduate refers to the act of receiving this degree “I plan to graduate from college in the spring,” or the act of giving a degree “I want to graduate all of my students.” In a scientific sense, graduate can mean to calibrate for fine adjustments. To make a thermometer, you have to graduate it by degrees so it displays a range of temperatures.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

graduate graduates graduated graduating

But by and large, graduate degrees aren’t required to get a job in these fields.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

It would see those set to graduate and qualify as teachers in 2027, 2028 and 2029 get some of their tuition fees paid.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Stephanie Leach, a sixth-year graduate student in Hwang's lab, contributed to the design of the project, led the experiments conducted with participants, and co-led preparation of the manuscript.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Trustees, undergraduate student government leaders and graduate students gathered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

He’d let it slip my last night on Buck’s Peak, the same night he’d said he wouldn’t come to see me graduate.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

While the number of high-school graduates in the U.S. who choose apprenticeships instead of college is rising, programs are mostly focused on blue-collar roles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

U.K. companies hired 8% more apprentices in 2025, while hiring of college graduates contracted by 8%, according to a survey in 2025 by the Institute of Student Employers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

In most states, if a school isn’t ABA-approved, law-school graduates can’t take the bar exam to become licensed lawyers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Together, they launched Normal and recruited recent college graduates and experienced engineers to build energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning machinery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Exactly zero percent of those 1940 college graduates became engineers.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

He graduated from West Creek High in 2011.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

I received a 200-piece set as a gift when I graduated from high school in 2015 and have used it regularly ever since.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Kevin Lin got an $895-a-year credit card before he graduated college.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

"No student who graduated from Nalsar will be enrolled until further orders from Bar Council of India," he announced.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Slopper, not having graduated to full Hunter status, carried a sharpened stick.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

He adds: "Even just in my graduating class in that little town, so many of the kids are gone. It's kind of staggering. Such a dirty business."

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Six years after graduating from a four-year program with a chemistry degree, Alexander Chamberlain-Clay, a 28-year-old software engineer, owes about $110,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

She entered politics soon after graduating and in June 2020 became an assistant White House press secretary.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Born in London to parents who fled conflict in their native Hungary, Hilton began a career in politics with Britain’s Conservative Party after graduating from Oxford University.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

After graduating from Troy Female Seminary in 1832, Elizabeth returned home.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Related Words

• alum
• alumna
• alumnus
• doctor
• grad
• recipient