graduate

American  

[graj-oo-it, -eyt, graj-oo-eyt] / ˈgrædʒ u ɪt, -ˌeɪt, ˈgrædʒ uˌeɪt /

noun

graduates plural

1. a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.

2. a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.

3. a graduated cylinder, used for measuring.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree.

   graduate courses in business; a graduate student.

2. having an academic degree or diploma.

   a graduate engineer.

verb (used without object)

graduates, present (3rd person singular) graduated, past participle, past graduating present participle

1. to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often followed byfrom ).

   She graduated from college in 1985.

2. to pass by degrees; change gradually.

verb (used with object)

graduates, present (3rd person singular) graduated, past participle, past graduating present participle

1. to confer a degree upon, or to grant a diploma to, at the close of a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.

   Cornell graduated eighty students with honors.

2. Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from.

   She graduated college in 1950.

3. to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.

4. to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.

graduate British  

noun

1. 1. a person who has been awarded a first degree from a university or college

   2. ( as modifier )

      a graduate profession

2. a student who has completed a course of studies at a high school and received a diploma

3. a container, such as a flask, marked to indicate its capacity

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verb

1. to receive or cause to receive a degree or diploma

2. (tr) to confer a degree, diploma, etc upon

3. (tr) to mark (a thermometer, flask, etc) with units of measurement; calibrate

4. (tr) to arrange or sort into groups according to type, quality, etc

5. to change by degrees (from something to something else)

Usage

In the sense “to receive a degree or diploma” graduate followed by from is the most common construction today: Her daughter graduated from Yale in 1981. The passive form was graduated from, formerly insisted upon as the only correct pattern, has decreased in use and occurs infrequently today: My husband was graduated from West Point last year. Even though it is condemned by some as nonstandard, the use of graduate as a transitive verb meaning “to receive a degree or diploma from” is increasing in frequency in both speech and writing: The twins graduated high school in 1974.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• graduator
  noun
• nongraduate
  noun
• supergraduate
  noun
• ungraduating
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• graduates
  plural

Participles

• graduating
  present
• graduated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• graduate
  simple
• graduates
  simple
• have graduated
  perfect
• has graduated
  perfect
• am graduating
  progressive
• are graduating
  progressive
• is graduating
  progressive
• have been graduating
  perfect progressive
• has been graduating
  perfect progressive

Past

• graduated
  simple
• had graduated
  perfect
• was graduating
  progressive
• were graduating
  progressive
• had been graduating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will graduate
  simple
• will have graduated
  perfect
• will be graduating
  progressive
• will have been graduating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of graduate

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin graduātus (past participle of graduāre ), equivalent to grad ( us ) grade, step + -u- thematic vowel + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

To graduate means to successfully complete your schooling, to become "a graduate." When you graduate from high school, you become a high school graduate and congratulations are in order. A graduate is someone who has received a degree from a school. As a verb graduate refers to the act of receiving this degree “I plan to graduate from college in the spring,” or the act of giving a degree “I want to graduate all of my students.” In a scientific sense, graduate can mean to calibrate for fine adjustments. To make a thermometer, you have to graduate it by degrees so it displays a range of temperatures.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

graduate graduates graduated graduating

Quality of education remains a major challenge affecting employability while the expansion in the number of graduates has not been matched by commensurate growth in graduate employment.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

"Humans have found countless uses for these molecules in everyday life," added Lana Mutabdžija, a graduate student at the Czech Academy of Sciences and co-first author of the latest paper.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

For a lab like Blumstein’s, that means fewer graduate students to oversee long-term marmot studies that can extend for years and generate important data.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

He flew to Dallas to meet Falade, a graduate student at Southern Methodist University, and the proposal for the debut book was sent to publishers and Hollywood representatives a few days later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

What did it matter, if they failed to graduate, if they had to go back home?

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Coding, designing and programming remotely were a way for young graduates to overcome tight border restrictions.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

In 1983, 4% of 20 to 29-year-olds were graduates, and 13% of them were unemployed.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Trading firms and artificial-intelligence companies are competing for top math graduates, driving offers higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Many believe their chances of ever buying a home are slim to none, and it can be tough for recent college graduates to break into today’s job market.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

I will be sure to seek out graduates of your alma mater should the palace ever require additional staff to care for the princes and princesses.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

Fakapelea’s oldest daughter, now 13, was one of two speakers when the school’s lone class of eighth-graders graduated in June.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Dancers like Goebel and Lalau have graduated from the HHI community to stand on global stages as choreographers and artistic directors with music’s biggest artists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

When Daniel Wu graduated from Stanford with a degree in computer science in 2021, he interviewed at AI labs before eventually joining a quant firm as a researcher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

In the 23 years since he graduated from Norfolk Collegiate High School, Truelove has accumulated more than 40 charges and citations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

He became so proficient in his studies that, even before he graduated, he was hired to teach classes in Greek, Latin, algebra, and penmanship.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

With his last Ph.D. students graduating, this was a natural moment for Tsimerman to make a move of his own.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

After graduating from NYU, I moved to Los Angeles to teach dance at a public middle school.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1961, he entered law school at the University of Pennsylvania, then spent several years at a Philadelphia firm before joining Wawa in 1970.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

He was educated at Robert Gordon's College, later graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a first-class honours degree in psychology in 1964.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“All of our saber girls are graduating next year, so I need a new saber squad ready for next season. You’d be in our starting lineup.”

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Related Words

• alum
• alumna
• alumnus
• doctor
• grad
• recipient