lecture
Americannoun
-
lectures
plural
verb (used without object)
-
lectures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lectured,
past participle, past
-
lecturing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
lectures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lectured,
past participle, past
-
lecturing
present participle
noun
-
a discourse on a particular subject given or read to an audience
-
the text of such a discourse
-
a method of teaching by formal discourse
-
a lengthy reprimand or scolding
verb
-
to give or read a lecture (to an audience or class)
-
(tr) to reprimand at length
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lecturesimple
-
lecturessimple
-
have lecturedperfect
-
has lecturedperfect
-
am lecturingprogressive
-
are lecturingprogressive
-
is lecturingprogressive
-
have been lecturingperfect progressive
-
has been lecturingperfect progressive
Past
-
lecturedsimple
-
had lecturedperfect
-
was lecturingprogressive
-
were lecturingprogressive
-
had been lecturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lecture
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin lēctūra “a reading”; see lection, -ure
Explanation
When your teacher stands up in front of you and teaches by talking about the latest chapter you've read or explaining how to do a new math problem - he is giving a lecture. A lecture is most often used to describe a method of teaching, particularly popular in college, where professors give organized talks as lessons to large groups of students. It is not quite as positive when children level the term at their parents — "Don't lecture me!" — for criticizing their clothes, their friends or their music. Lecture can also be used to describe any public talk, most often by an expert.
Vocabulary lists containing lecture
The Vocabulary of College
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"The Treasure of Lemon Brown"
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Guts
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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:
The main lecture was delivered by Pedro Pina, Vice President of YouTube, who gave a reminder about the vast changes in the TV landscape since the festival first began.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Asked about entrusting such a project to Riyadh despite criticism of its human rights record, his office said: "At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others."
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Not too many years ago, a doctoral student in history gave a lecture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
This is a remix of the lecture supposedly spoiled millennials, who refused to sacrifice every small pleasure on the altar of homeownership, heard for years about $7 lattes.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
Mr. Kravitz launched into a lecture on his standards for entries he was willing to submit to the merchants' association.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
The general effect is more of 10 diligently prepared classroom lectures than of a broadly conceived historical narrative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"We all went to the same lectures and we had the same labs, the same tutorials," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
The student, who is also a freelance translator, has also found it hard to concentrate on lectures knowing he could be missing out on work opportunities.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The retreat included daily lectures, approximately 33 hours of guided meditation, and group healing practices.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Then the world had turned upside down: I had entered a university, where I’d wandered into an auditorium and listened, eyes wide, mind buzzing, to lectures on American history.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
“Their song has a very pro-European message,” said Vuletic, who has lectured widely on the contest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
A book club is filled with a hundred little paradoxes: They want to learn but not be lectured to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Badenoch was born in London but spent much of her childhood in Nigeria, as well as the United States, where her mother lectured.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
She was also officer of several technical societies and lectured on technical analysis around the world.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 17, 2025
I knew things were at a crucial point right now: What I said next would likely determine whether I’d be grounded until marriage or just lectured for a while and then ignored again.
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
Over the years he instead appeared in Dyson commercials as the company’s sole spokesman, taking the tone of a lecturing physics professor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Like many advisers, DeLarme understands that lecturing about the risks of stock picking can fall flat.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
However, some social media users saw this as exactly the kind of colonial lecturing he said that France had moved away from, while others argued he was within his rights.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
There’s the diner scene in which Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are on screen together for the first time, lecturing each about how “you can’t change me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
I conclude that she wants the latter from me as I bear her lecturing.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
