scholar

noun

schol·​ar ˈskä-lər 

1

: a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher : pupil

2

a

: a person who has done advanced study in a special field

b

: a learned person

3

: a holder of a scholarship

Synonyms

• teacher
• sage
• pundit
• savant
• wizard

Examples of scholar in a Sentence

She's a renowned scholar of African-American history.

scholars have long debated whether there is ever such a thing as a truly selfless act

Recent Examples on the Web

Leaving this out of the story of tenure prevents scholars from effectively withstanding attacks that seek to remake how academic labor is performed today. —Time, 1 Oct. 2025

Read more about this year's scholars here. —Rachel Wegner, Nashville Tennessean, 1 Oct. 2025

Harmon Siegel is an affiliate scholar at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and the author of Painting with Monet (Princeton University Press, 2024). —Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025

But some scholars are doubtful that’s routinely happening. —Lauren Sausser, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English scoler, from Old English scolere & Anglo-French escoler, from Medieval Latin scholaris, from Late Latin, of a school, from Latin schola school

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing scholar

• Rhodes scholar

Rhymes for scholar

• caller
• collar
• crawler
• dollar
• faller
• haller
• hauler
• holler
• smaller
• squalor
• taller
• trawler

Kids Definition

scholar

noun

schol·​ar ˈskäl-ər 

1

: a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher : pupil

2

a

: a person who has done advanced study in a special area

b

: a learned person

3

: a holder of a scholarship

scholarly adjective