undergraduate
Americannoun
-
undergraduates
plural
adjective
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having the standing of an undergraduate.
-
of, for, pertaining to, or characteristic of undergraduates.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Meanwhile a mobile app developed by an undergraduate to direct people to the shadiest walking paths has gained traction online, particularly among students.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
He received his undergraduate degree in architecture from UC Berkeley, working in city planning until he got laid off, which, along with the death of his father, prompted him to pursue his true love: acting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
I was a somewhat overweight graduate of some of America’s finest undergraduate and medical teaching programs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
University of Southern California undergraduate student Anyi Tan contributed to this research.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
He was busy with his new life then, lost to the novelties of undergraduate life, and also intent at that time on putting a little distance between himself and the Tallis family.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
It’s now flooded with standardized public-market data, so much so that undergraduates can readily peer inside and participate on nearly equal footing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
And yet, although a program like Sample Gates is an attractive resume line that provides unique experience among undergraduates, it isn’t necessarily a launching pad to help students secure jobs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Across the river at the University of Manchester, the price increases by a pound for undergraduates and postgraduates, but those with a doctorate pay £57.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
But 1988 was the first year that female undergraduates outnumbered men on college campuses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
By midnight on Tuesday evening, more than fifty undergraduates had volunteered.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
