valedictorian
Americannoun
adjective
-
saying goodbye
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of or relating to a farewell or an occasion of farewell
noun
Etymology
Origin of valedictorian
An Americanism dating back to 1750–60; valedictory + -an
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Explanation
The valedictorian is usually the student with the highest grades in a class. If the valedictorian of your class is someone you like and admire, you'll enjoy listening to her graduation speech. At a high school or university graduation, the valedictorian traditionally gives a farewell speech, called a valedictory. This person is almost always the student in the class with the very best academic record. The origin of the word valedictorian is the Latin valedicere, which means "bid farewell." Valedicere in turn comes from valere, "be well," and dicere, "to say."
Vocabulary lists containing valedictorian
You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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A Graduation Lexicon
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"The Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas
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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.
Geller, last year’s valedictorian, ad-libbed “millionaires suck” during his commencement address.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Fatoke, the valedictorian, became a certified nursing assistant at Worcester Tech high school, and is now in college on a pre-med track.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025
At school, Harvey applied herself and graduated valedictorian.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” the billionaire added.
From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024
Ben had found out from Philip that she was the senior class’s runaway valedictorian with Philip himself an earnest but distant second.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
