academic
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to a college, academy, school, or other educational institution.
academic requirements.
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pertaining to areas of study that are not primarily vocational or applied, as the humanities or pure mathematics.
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theoretical or hypothetical; not practical, realistic, or directly useful.
an academic question;
an academic discussion of a matter already decided.
-
learned or scholarly but lacking in worldliness, common sense, or practicality.
- Synonyms:
- theoretical
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conforming to set rules, standards, or traditions; conventional.
academic painting.
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acquired by formal education, especially at a college or university.
academic preparation for the ministry.
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Academic, of or relating to Academe or to the Platonic school of philosophy.
noun
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a student or teacher at a college or university.
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a person who is academic in background, attitudes, methods, etc..
He was by temperament an academic, concerned with books and the arts.
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Academic, a person who supports or advocates the Platonic school of philosophy.
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academics, the scholarly activities of a school or university, as classroom studies or research projects.
more emphasis on academics and less on athletics.
adjective
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belonging or relating to a place of learning, esp a college, university, or academy
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of purely theoretical or speculative interest
an academic argument
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excessively concerned with intellectual matters and lacking experience of practical affairs
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(esp of a schoolchild) having an aptitude for study
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conforming to set rules and traditions; conventional
an academic painter
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relating to studies such as languages, philosophy, and pure science, rather than applied, technical, or professional studies
noun
Related Words
See formal.
Other Word Forms
- academically adverb
- antiacademic adjective
- interacademic adjective
- nonacademic adjective
- proacademic adjective
- pseudoacademic adjective
- quasi-academic adjective
- semiacademic adjective
- subacademic adjective
- unacademic adjective
Etymology
Origin of academic
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin Acadēmicus, from Greek Akadēmeikós. See academy, academe, -ic
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.
“Many academics and research institutes technically violate the terms of service in a strict interpretation,” Lambert said.
From MarketWatch
“We have been hearing from hundreds of stakeholders, academics, members of the public, other interested parties — and to be able to begin drafting charter language for the City Council to consider is pretty momentous.”
From Los Angeles Times
Summers will leave at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, with a new title: president emeritus.
From Salon
In fact, some see inside information as key to prediction markets’ accuracy, which has been touted in academic research.
From Barron's
The women’s team said in a statement Monday that it declined an invitation to attend the address “due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
