undergraduate
Americannoun
adjective
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having the standing of an undergraduate.
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of, for, pertaining to, or characteristic of undergraduates.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of undergraduate
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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.
Vocabulary lists containing undergraduate
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.
If passed by the Legislature and voters, the amendment would would require the regents to appoint two undergraduate and two graduate students to two-year terms beginning July 1, 2027.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
As a college undergraduate myself, I’m frustrated with cancel culture too.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
"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
But take a look at the following list of where the last twenty-five Americans to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine got their undergraduate degrees, starting in 2007.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
