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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A native of Germany, Aschenbrenner graduated from Columbia University as the 2021 class valedictorian and briefly worked as a researcher at OpenAI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
At school, Harvey applied herself and graduated valedictorian.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
She went on to become valedictorian of her public high school and the first member of her family to go to college.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 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
Emma Jean was valedictorian of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s class of 1946, working her way through school serving meals in the dining hall and grading papers for professors.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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
This was the era in which Richie and fellow Motown valedictorians Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson changed the personality of American pop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
I now see why so many promising young men, class orators, valedictorians and the like fall by the wayside and are never heard from after commencement day.
From The Strength of Gideon and Other Stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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.
