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 of scholar

• 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

The museum, focused on the arts, history and technology, will draw tourists and scholars from around the world. —Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Miami Herald, 9 Jan. 2026

That’s because its struggling oil industry, which is still under sanctions, represents more than 90% of Venezuela’s exports and a significant share of the government’s fiscal revenue, according to Palacios, now an adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University. —Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 8 Jan. 2026

The scholar has been pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the security agency said. —Sylvie Corbet, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026

There’s a cost to swapping out curriculum that produced Fulbright scholars for beach volleyball scholarships, and The Times missed it. —Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2026

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