valedictorian
Americannoun
-
valedictorians
plural
adjective
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saying goodbye
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of or relating to a farewell or an occasion of farewell
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
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Since graduating from Columbia University in 2021 as the class valedictorian at age 19, Leopold Aschenbrenner has worked his way into the upper echelons of technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
He was valedictorian at Columbia University at age 19.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Shahbazyan, who transferred from Chaminade after his sophomore year, is set to attend Stanford and still in the hunt to be valedictorian at Birmingham.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
At school, Harvey applied herself and graduated valedictorian.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
She was annoying and obsessed with being valedictorian one day.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Fernando and Osmin were both valedictorians of their high school, and each earned a merit scholarship that covered tuition and housing at Loyola University New Orleans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
He graduated in 1994 as one of 24 valedictorians at his high school.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 27, 2024
Determining whether she is the most “qualified” of the shortlister, though, is like picking out the smartest student in a class of valedictorians.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2022
The move will also allow schools to select valedictorians and salutatorians based on qualities such as character and leadership, in addition to grade-point average.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 21, 2019
Who ever hears of valedictorians twenty years after graduation?
From Polly Oliver's Problem by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
