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graduate

9 synonyms and 2 antonyms for graduate, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — A person who has completed a degree or course of study at a school, college, or university.

Synonyms

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

Rare, literary or technical

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

alumnus alum alumna degree-holder former student calibrate fine-tune postgraduate

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

A person who has completed a degree or course of study at a school, college, or university.

“She's a graduate of Oxford University.”

alumnus alum alumna degree-holder former student grad calibrate fine-tune

Opposites

student drop-out

2. verb

To complete a degree or course of study and receive recognition for it.

“She graduated from law school last spring.”

3. adjective

Relating to study beyond an undergraduate degree.

“He's applying to graduate school to study psychology.”

How to use graduate

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

graduate from graduate school recent graduate graduate to something harder

Etymology

From Medieval Latin graduatus ("having taken a degree"), from gradus ("step, degree").

Full origin of graduate →

Frequently asked questions

What does “graduate” mean?
The word “graduate” means a person who has completed a degree or course of study at a school, college, or university. In plain terms, someone who has finished a course of study, or the act of finishing one — also used for moving up to something harder or more advanced.
How do you pronounce “graduate”?
“Graduate” is pronounced GRAD-zhoo-uht (/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuɪt/ in IPA).
How do you use “graduate” in a sentence?
Here is “graduate” used in a sentence: “She's a graduate of Oxford University.”
What is the opposite of “graduate”?
The opposite of “graduate” — its antonyms — are student and drop-out.
What part of speech is “graduate”?
Depending on how it is used, “graduate” can be a noun, a verb and an adjective.
Where does the word “graduate” come from?
The word “graduate” comes from Medieval Latin. From Medieval Latin graduatus ("having taken a degree"), from gradus ("step, degree").
Is “graduate” a common word?
“Graduate” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.
How many meanings does “graduate” have?
“Graduate” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a person who has completed a degree or course of study at a school, college, or university.
What is the difference between a graduate and an undergraduate?
An undergraduate is a student still working toward a first degree and has not finished yet. A graduate has completed that degree and holds the qualification. In everyday use, 'graduate' can also mean someone doing advanced study after a first degree, especially in American English, where 'graduate school' follows the undergraduate years.
What is the difference between a graduate and an alumnus?
A graduate is someone who has completed a degree or course. An alumnus, or alumna, is a former student of a particular institution; you are an alumnus of the school you attended, whether or not you finished. So every graduate is usually an alumnus, but not every alumnus is a graduate.
Is 'graduate' a noun or a verb?
It is both, with a slight shift in stress. As a noun, a graduate is the person who has earned the qualification. As a verb, to graduate means to complete your studies and receive that qualification. There is also an unrelated verb sense: to graduate a scale means to mark it in measured steps.

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Synonyms and antonyms from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.