kindergartner
AmericanEtymology
Origin of kindergartner
From the German word Kindergärtner, dating back to 1870–75. See kindergarten, -er 1
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.
Even then, the kindergartner recognized the significance of this last testament.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Shiffrin’s never been shy about acknowledging performance anxiety—this is a champ who still shows up to races with the butterflies of a kindergartner on the first day of school.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
The first reporter sounded as panicked as possible and the government officials sounded like school teachers trying to calm down a kindergartner after they’ve soiled themselves in class.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2024
In her 2012 autobiography, Can’t Is Not an Option, Haley tells the story of how, as a kindergartner in her rural South Carolina elementary school, she was cast as Pocahontas in the Thanksgiving play.
From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2024
Teddy, a kindergartner back then, sat in my bedroom, pulling the Calvin and Hobbes books down from the shelves and pretending to read them.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
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.
