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Showing results for prep school. Search instead for prep+school.
Synonyms

prep school

American  

noun

  1. preparatory school.

prep school British  

noun

  1. informal See preparatory school

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

He was one of the leading scorers in the City Section at 28.5 points per game and left for prep school at Academy of Central Florida, where he’s averaging close to 20 points.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026

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

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

It was from Ricki Stern, someone he knew from his prep school years on the Upper East Side.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2025

It was a decadent atmosphere for me whose previous experience of dating had been mixers and parlor calls from boys at prep school.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

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.