academic

11 synonyms and 1 antonym for academic, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adj — Relating to schools, universities, or formal education and scholarship.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

educational intellectual learned

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

scholarly

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

scholastic instructional pedagogical academician faculty member donnish pedantic

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adj

Relating to schools, universities, or formal education and scholarship.

“She has an impressive academic record from her time at university.”

scholarly educational scholastic intellectual instructional pedagogical learned academician faculty member donnish pedantic

2. adj

Theoretical rather than practical; of no real practical consequence.

“Whether we could have won is academic now — the game is over.”

Opposites

applied

3. noun

A person who works or studies at a university, especially as a teacher or researcher.

“Several leading academics contributed to the report.”

academician

How to use academic

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

academic year academic achievement purely academic

Etymology

From Greek akademikos, referring to Plato's Academy, by way of Latin and French.

Full origin of academic →

Frequently asked questions

What does “academic” mean?

The word “academic” means relating to schools, universities, or formal education and scholarship. In plain terms, relating to school/university learning, or (in a second sense) purely theoretical with no practical stakes.

How do you pronounce “academic”?

“Academic” is pronounced ak-uh-DEHM-ihk (/ˌæk.əˈdɛm.ɪk/ in IPA).

How do you use “academic” in a sentence?

Here is “academic” used in a sentence: “She has an impressive academic record from her time at university.”

What part of speech is “academic”?

Depending on how it is used, “academic” can be an adjective and a noun.

Where does the word “academic” come from?

The word “academic” comes from Latin. From Greek akademikos, referring to Plato's Academy, by way of Latin and French.

Is “academic” a common word?

“Academic” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

How many meanings does “academic” have?

“Academic” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: relating to schools, universities, or formal education and scholarship.

What is the difference between academic and educational?

'Educational' describes anything that teaches or informs, from a documentary to a museum visit. 'Academic' is narrower, tied to formal scholarship in schools and universities: study, research, and theory. A children's cartoon can be educational without being academic, while a peer-reviewed paper is academic in the fullest sense.

What does 'academic' mean in the phrase 'purely academic'?

There it carries a second sense: theoretical and of no practical consequence. If a question is 'purely academic,' it is interesting in principle but makes no real difference to the outcome, perhaps because the decision is already made. The focus is on abstract interest rather than education.

Is 'academic' a positive or negative word?

It is usually neutral or positive, signaling learning, rigor, and scholarship. It turns mildly negative only in the sense of 'too theoretical,' meaning impractical or removed from real life, as in 'that debate is merely academic.' Tone depends entirely on context and the sentence around it.

Related words

academia academical academically academically disadvantaged academicals academism academist academy scientific

People also searched

learned applied educational intellectual scholarly scholastic academician pedantic

Nearby words

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