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Showing results for undergraduate. Search instead for under-graduate.
Synonyms

undergraduate

American  
[uhn-der-graj-oo-it, -eyt] / ˌʌn dərˈgrædʒ u ɪt, -ˌeɪt /

noun

  1. a student in a university or college who has not received a first, especially a bachelor's, degree.

adjective

  1. having the standing of an undergraduate.

  2. of, for, pertaining to, or characteristic of undergraduates.

undergraduate British  
/ ˌʌndəˈɡrædjʊɪt /

noun

  1. Sometimes shortened to: undergrad.  a person studying in a university for a first degree

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nonundergraduate noun
  • undergraduateship noun

Etymology

Origin of undergraduate

First recorded in 1620–30; under- + graduate

Compare meaning

How does undergraduate compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Explanation

An undergraduate is a college or university student who's not a graduate student. After high school, you can become an undergraduate. Undergraduates are students of universities and colleges: they've graduated from high school and have been accepted to college, but they haven't graduated yet. If the under in undergraduate seems confusing, that's because there are also graduate students, students who have a college degree but are no longer undergraduates and are pursuing an advanced degree, like a Master's or Ph.D. Lots of people say being an undergraduate was one of the best times of their lives: it's an exciting thing to be.

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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.

"Mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth," according to his profile, which noted that he had an undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology.

From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026

Inside a paleobiology lab lined with cabinets of ancient fossils, the Virginia Tech undergraduate held up a rough, pitted skull.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

"I was told about rising visa rejections and colleges limiting undergraduate admissions. That made me rethink everything," he says.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

That’s roughly nine hours a week — the equivalent of an undergraduate course load, said Zehra Abid-Wood, president of Lasell Village and a vice president at the university.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

He was finishing his undergraduate degree in chemistry at Idaho State.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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.