undergraduate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a student who is studying for their first university degree.
n.a student at a higher education institution who is pursuing a first degree, typically a Bachelor's degree.
Simple“The university has over twenty thousand undergraduates studying everything from art to science.”
In context“As an undergraduate, she spent most of her time in the library researching historical linguistics for her final dissertation.”
UsageOften shortened to 'undergrad' in informal speech.
Teacher's tipIn American English, students are often called 'freshmen', 'sophomores', 'juniors', or 'seniors' depending on their year of undergraduate study.
Antonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.describing things related to students who are studying for their first degree.
adj.relating to or being an undergraduate student or the level of study leading to a first degree.
Simple“He is currently taking an undergraduate course in psychology.”
In context“The department offers several undergraduate programmes, though the most competitive is the dual-degree in law and economics.”
UsageUsually placed before a noun.
Antonyms
Usage undergraduate students
“A team of undergraduates and I revisited the methanol study and attempted to replicate past results using a new dataset from ALMA observations.”
“Admittedly, I’ve taught generations of students about Wagner and Bayreuth and have been aware of the theatre’s acoustic – revered among opera-lovers – since I was myself an undergraduate.”
From under- + graduate.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.