Phi Beta Kappa

noun

Phi Be·​ta Kap·​pa ˌfī-ˌbā-tə-ˈka-pə 

: a person winning high scholastic distinction in an American college or university and being elected to membership in a national honor society founded in 1776

Examples of Phi Beta Kappa in a Sentence

She belongs to Phi Beta Kappa.

He made Phi Beta Kappa his sophomore year.

He's a Phi Beta Kappa.

Recent Examples on the Web

Pepper, as he was called, was also Phi Beta Kappa, contender for the Heisman, and the president of his class. — John McPhee, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026

Her mother was in the same program, along with Phi Beta Kappa, at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. — Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 May 2025

Jane is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025

Born in Brooklyn in 1932, Davis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from New York University before earning his law degree from Harvard. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 22 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Phi Beta Kappa (Society), from phi + beta + kappa, initials of the society's Greek motto philosophia biou kybernētēs philosophy the guide of life

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above