variants
also academical
1
as in educational
of or relating to schooling or learning especially at an advanced level
"If you spent more time in academic pursuits and less time in social ones, you could easily make good grades," the dean told Valerie
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in intellectual
very learned or educated but inexperienced in practical matters
academic thinkers who have no understanding of realpolitik
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in theoretical
existing only as an assumption or speculation
your arguments are merely academic—such a worst-case scenario is unlikely to ever occur
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in academe
Related Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of academic
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Koren sat on the editorial boards of numerous publications and held several academic appointments.
—Ben Taub, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Anthony Izaguirre, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026
Zhang Chi, an academic at China's National Defense University, said the vessel can simultaneously launch attack helicopters, landing craft, amphibious tanks and armored vehicles.
—Yimou Lee, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for academic
Adjective
Laura Lyons, interim vice provost for academic excellence at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, called their promotions especially important.
—Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Koren sat on the editorial boards of numerous publications and held several academic appointments.
—Ben Taub, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Noun
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author.
—Anthony Izaguirre, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026
Zhang Chi, an academic at China's National Defense University, said the vessel can simultaneously launch attack helicopters, landing craft, amphibious tanks and armored vehicles.
—Yimou Lee, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for academic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for academic
Adjective
-
Consider a viable and popular educational use for AI personas.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Promoting the preservation of centuries-old skills that have been passed down for generations—like Al-sadu (geometric embroidering) and Talli (hand-weaving)—the center offers educational workshops and training courses as well as daily artisan showcases.—
Condé Nast Traveler,
Condé Nast Traveler,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
When reading transfer essays, admissions officers are looking for maturity, purpose, and intellectual curiosity.—
Christopher Rim,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Here, too, DaCosta’s reconfiguration of Ibsen, by making Hedda Gabler’s former lover (and her husband’s main professional rival) a woman, and by greatly expanding that role, offers Nina Hoss a showcase for intellectual passion and romantic frenzy.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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From a theoretical point of view, the advantages of free trade are as great as ever, but as a practical matter, since tech companies do not import or export many industrial goods or raw materials, free trade in goods matters much less to companies like Meta than to those like Walmart or GM.—
Walter Russell Mead,
The Atlantic,
24 Jan. 2026
-
These are features that many theoretical models do not expect to coexist.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Chinese research took a long while to recover from Mao’s purge of academe.—
Shivaram Rajgopal,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2025
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His ideas have particularly struck a chord with readers who deal in aesthetics—artists, curators, designers, and architects—even though Han has not quite been embraced by philosophy academe.—
Kyle Chayka,
The New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2024
Noun
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Strategy scholars use related language when discussing foresight, sensemaking, and early awareness.—
Benjamin Laker,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
-
In 1972, filmmaker William Greaves reconvened a group of artists and luminaries from the Harlem Renaissance including musicians, playwrights, poets and scholars at Duke Ellington’s townhouse for an afternoon of reminiscing and rumination.—
Vanessa Franko,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Brown-Grier argued that this knowledge gap is not just a scholarly problem but a governance one.—
Marybeth Gasman,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
-
Dunn wanted the property to be used as a scholarly and artistic retreat.—
Mary Divine,
Twin Cities,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The roughly 920,000-square-foot space was built in 2023, with Port KC help, as a speculative warehouse.—
Chris Higgins,
Kansas City Star,
24 Jan. 2026
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This is not a fundamental reassessment but a speculative rush preceding a highly dilutive financing occurrence.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
There’s little scaffolding or bridging, virtually no space given to centralized agencies, which most development academicians would agree still have their place.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
-
Other founding principals include fellow academicians Andrei Shleifer and Robert Vishny.—
Charles Rotblut,
Forbes,
18 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Academic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/academic. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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