sorority
Americannoun
-
sororities
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sorority
1525–35; < Medieval Latin sorōritās, equivalent to Latin sorōr- (stem of soror ) sister + -itās -ity
Explanation
If you join a sorority, you're joining a social organization for women, typically one based at a university or college. Your sorority probably has a lot of social events such as meetings, mixers, galas, and fundraisers. First used in the 1530s, the noun sorority stems from the Middle Latin word sororitas, meaning "sisterhood, of or pertaining to sisters." Although members of a sorority aren't actually biological sisters, the idea is to form a strong bond between members — or "sisters" — based on commitment to the group. To build allegiance, members of a sorority might wear the same sweatshirts with Greek letters and attend social events and regular club meetings.
Vocabulary lists containing sorority
Tears of a Tiger
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When I Was the Greatest
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The Parker Inheritance
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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.
See Examples For:
She quit her sorority and ended up leaving school for a time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Dayanara was a bright light, a gentle soul, and someone whose kindness touched everyone around her,” the sorority shared in a memorial post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Once Elle has succeeded at everything, including winning an acquittal for a sorority sister accused of murder, Warner reappears and hands her the declaration of love she originally wanted when she followed him to Harvard.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
Extracurriculars that “highlight team leadership, whether it’s in a sorority or fraternity, or the newspaper, certainly help us see that those individuals are motivated and are more likely to succeed,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
Anyway, Kelly was with her sorority sisters, and they started to leave, and she dropped her book right in front of my brother, and she kept walking.
From "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
As part of "broader work" that needs to happen, Kotlikoff said in his video statement that there should be a "serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life".
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Spring at Pennsylvania State University is rush season, when hopeful students vie for a spot in one of the school’s many fraternities and sororities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Where Tumblr-ites dreamed of the cloistered quads and moody libraries of Princeton in the 2010s, TikTok-ers now obsess over the elaborate rituals of University of Alabama sororities.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Her father wanted her to go to an East Coast college, but she chose Stanford in part because it didn’t have sororities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
By securing jobs in Langleys West Computing section, they now had pledged one of the world’s most exclusive sororities.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
