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Valedictory addresses delivered by earnest young valedictorians at high school and college graduations are as much a sign of spring in the United States as baseball games and cookouts. Though we don’t know where the first valedictory address was given, we do know that the word was an institution at some colleges in the U.S. by the mid-1700s. English speakers and writers have also used valedictory in non-academic settings since the mid-1600s. Since a valedictory speech is given at the end of an academic career, it is perfectly in keeping with the meaning of its Latin ancestor, valedicere, which means "to say farewell."
Examples of valedictory in a Sentence
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2025
But the olive branch is a reminder of the valedictory nature of most formal portraits.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2023
Jon Hilsenrath, semafor.com, 21 Aug. 2025
One senior exec who worked for Zaslav at Discovery and WarnerMedia told Deadline the split plan had a certain valedictory quality.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for valedictory
Cite this Entry
“Valedictory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/valedictory. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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