prep school
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of prep school
First recorded in 1890–95
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.
Foster attended a French-language prep school in Los Angeles as a child, meaning she attained fluency with much more ease and access than many Americans are afforded.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
Both, said the colleague, “really liked the night school crowd over the prep school crowd.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Stokes arrived last season from a Northern California prep school and helped the Knights reach the Southern Section Open Division championship game and the Southern California Regional final.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025
When he was a child, his aunt and uncle accidentally enrolled him in a Baptist boarding school in Kentucky, thinking it was a prestigious prep school.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
Osborne grew up in a wealthy household in Auburn, and, after attending prep school and Harvard, became mayor of Auburn, a newspaper publisher, and a manufacturer.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
