social studies

American  

noun

1. a course of instruction in an elementary or secondary school comprising such subjects as history, geography, civics, etc.

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social studies British  

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the study of how people live and organize themselves in society, embracing geography, history, economics, and other subjects

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Etymology

Origin of social studies

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

social studies

Some do recall the morning but struggle to convey the magnitude of pain and fear to students for whom 9/11 is another date in a social studies course timeline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

I was sitting in seventh grade social studies, where we were encouraged to discuss current events.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026

To answer that, it’s worth going back to seventh grade social studies.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026

Much of his input made it into the final social studies standards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

The art teachers signed on first, followed by the social studies teachers, so now paper links are under construction all day, not just before and after school and at lunch.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman