Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

classmate

American  
[klas-meyt, klahs-] / ˈklæsˌmeɪt, ˈklɑs- /

noun

  1. a member of the same class at a school or college.

classmate British  
/ ˈklɑːsˌmeɪt /

noun

  1. a friend or contemporary of the same class in a school, college, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of classmate

An Americanism dating back to 1705–15; class + mate 1

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.

Students seemed to conclude that an AI bot was a more convenient classmate than a human, and it showed.

From The Wall Street Journal

Many of my classmates at community college were older, working full-time jobs, supporting families, or simply in a different stage of life.

From The Wall Street Journal

While her classmates were preoccupied with exams, the May ball and where to spend their summers, Franks was worried about making her rent.

From BBC

“They were all able to do what they did because of wives or partners or friends or college classmates, who did a lot of the work without being household names,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Pauley finished her senior year, sometimes cutting out of class early to help out at home and catching up with notes from classmates.

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.