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:
I’ve heard from hundreds of readers who expressed surprise that anyone would pay nearly $400,000 for an undergraduate degree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Why buy: After finishing his undergraduate degree in Boston, Snyder moved back to Louisville in 2021 and decided to buy his primary home to start building equity.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Former Ohio State undergraduate Carmen Pape was also a co-author.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
At USC, the Viterbi School of Engineering is launching its inaugural undergraduate artificial intelligence degree.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
It’s almost certain that if you decide to attend Princeton, the university will pay your tuition, room and board for the length of your stay as an undergraduate, beginning in the fall of 1979.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
The three enroll 40% or more of undergraduates paying the full price, compared with just 21% at Syracuse, according to 2023-24 data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the most recent available.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
UC is outpacing that, and says it is on track to reach its goal of enrolling 217,000 California resident undergraduates by 2030.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 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
In 2023, Plan 2 loans were replaced for undergraduates in England with Plan 5 loans.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
He was probably one of the oldest undergraduates at college, but he joined the military after high school in Iran and didn't move to Baton Rouge until his early twenties.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
