Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scholarly
Explanation
Someone who's scholarly is a serious student. You can describe your studious friend who's always working on a research paper or reading a huge book as scholarly. Use the adjective scholarly when you talk about a person who is focused on learning — in other words, a scholar. You can also describe things that relate to studying or knowledge as scholarly, like a scholarly article in a journal or a scholarly atmosphere in a library. The Old English word scolere, or "student," is the root of both scholar and scholarly, from the Latin word for school, schola.
Vocabulary lists containing scholarly
Chapter 1: What Does a Historian Do?
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Words to Describe a Teacher
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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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.
“That doesn’t feel scholarly to me, that feels like oversight and accountability — exactly what the public is asking for for one of our largest investments as a city,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
He wrote the foreword for the scholarly book “California Grizzly” and from his Montana home keeps an eye on the well-being of his home state’s precariously small colony of grizzlies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Young told the court about his chaotic upbringing and his recent scholarly pursuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Publication in the Journal means only that an article is original, has met scholarly standards and been peer-reviewed; not that its analysis or conclusions are endorsed by the Journal’s editors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Maria could visit libraries full of scholarly works and seek out fellow insect scholars, collectors, and artists.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
