schoolmaster
Americannoun
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a man who presides over or teaches in a school.
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anything that teaches or directs.
Life can be a harsh schoolmaster.
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a snapper, Lutjanus apodus, a food fish found in Florida, the West Indies, etc.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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a man who teaches in or runs a school
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a person or thing that acts as an instructor
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a food fish, Lutjanus apodus, of the warm waters of the Caribbean and Atlantic: family Lutjanidae (snappers)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of schoolmaster
First recorded in 1175–1225, schoolmaster is from the Middle English word scolemaister. See school 1, master
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.
Silber has transformed Mr. Lundie, Brigadoon’s schoolmaster and moral guide, into Widow Lundie.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
The Post likened him to Ichabod Crane, the fictional schoolmaster in the Washington Irving short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Her mother was born the daughter of a Methodist schoolmaster but was orphaned and taken in by a Muslim man who prayed five times a day.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
With the war’s end on the horizon, FDR used the occasion to quote “my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody … that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2020
Later she caught a reference to a schoolmaster who was too strict, or perhaps it was an army officer.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
