scholarship

noun

schol·​ar·​ship ˈskä-lər-ˌship 

1

: a grant-in-aid to a student (as by a college or foundation)

2

: the character, qualities, activity, or attainments of a scholar : learning

3

: a fund of knowledge and learning

drawing on the scholarship of the ancients

Synonyms

• education
• erudition
• knowledge
• learnedness
• learning
• literacy

Choose the Right Synonym for scholarship

knowledge, learning, erudition, scholarship mean what is or can be known by an individual or by humankind.

knowledge applies to facts or ideas acquired by study, investigation, observation, or experience.

rich in the knowledge of human nature

learning applies to knowledge acquired especially through formal, often advanced, schooling.

a book that demonstrates vast learning

erudition strongly implies the acquiring of profound, recondite, or bookish learning.

an erudition unusual even in a scholar

scholarship implies the possession of learning characteristic of the advanced scholar in a specialized field of study or investigation.

a work of first-rate literary scholarship

Examples of scholarship in a Sentence

She got a scholarship to Yale University.

The organization is offering five $5,000 scholarships.

The essay is a work of serious scholarship.

The book is about his life and scholarship.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce awarded $4,000 in scholarships to five high school students at its Lauren Brown Memorial Scholarship Awards Luncheon on April 24. —Pioneer Press, Chicago Tribune, 2 May 2025

Franklin went from walk-on to scholarship at Florida State. —Pete Sampson, New York Times, 2 May 2025

Bringing Down the Duke Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women) $18 $10 Amazon Set in 19th-century England, the story follows the daughter of a poor vicar whose scholarship to the University of Oxford hinges on her support for the women’s suffrage movement. —Jenna Ryu, SELF, 1 May 2025

Some curators also bristled at Vreeland’s unorthodox approach to exhibition planning, such as blurring time periods, displaying clothes without providing historical context and prioritizing beauty over scholarship. —Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, The Conversation, 1 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1536, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing scholarship

• football scholarship
• full scholarship

Rhymes for scholarship

• authorship
• battleship
• censorship
• chairmanship
• chieftainship
• comradeship
• consulship
• craftsmanship
• dealership
• draftsmanship
• fellowship
• fingertip

Kids Definition

scholarship

noun

schol·​ar·​ship ˈskäl-ər-ˌship 

1

: money given (as by a college) to a student to help pay for further education

2

: the character, qualities, or achievements of a scholar