Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for undergraduate. Search instead for undergraduate students.
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.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing undergraduate

under (below)

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

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.

He later recalled in his memoir that he had written the song as an undergraduate, adding that when the film eventually appeared, "my record received an artificial boost on the 'pop' market".

From BBC • Apr. 17, 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

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

By 2022, undergraduate enrollment declined to about 1,200, down from around 2,100 in 2014.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Around that same time, the Arkansas Board of Education surprised us all by saying that seven state junior colleges would now be open to our undergraduate students.

From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals

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.