pupil

noun

ˈpyü-pəl How to pronounce pupil (audio)
Definition of pupilnext
1
as in student
one who attends a school generally there are 20 pupils in each class

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in adherent
one who follows the opinions or teachings of another to pupils of the philosopher Henry David Thoreau, the shores of Walden Pond are hallowed ground

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pupil Teacher earnings depend on how much that teacher decides to charge per pupil and the number of students who sign up. — Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2026 Past attempts to teach people to spot AI faces have focused on training viewers to look for visual glitches or statistical fingerprints left behind by a particular image generator, such as a wonky ear or an eye with two pupils. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 29 June 2026 The Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes, found that in 2025, just 36% of white British pupils on free school meals achieve a Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE, compared with 72% of non-free school meal pupils. — Will Barker, TheWeek, 29 June 2026 Its automatic mode finds the eyes and yields well-delineated, jet-black pupils. — Michael Muchmore, PC Magazine, 29 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for pupil
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pupil
  1. student
  2. adherent
  3. scholar
  4. disciple
  5. follower
Noun
  • High-school student Devon Georges was one of the flag-bearers for Saturday’s match and was shocked to get the call to do it from his mentor, Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami President and CEO Gale Nelson.
    — Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 19 July 2026
  • Rafi says separate arrangements were made for female DIU students to watch late-night kickoffs in Bangladesh, through screenings at their hostels, which is why fewer women are to be seen in the videos that flooded social media.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 19 July 2026
Definition of student
Noun
  • Sloganeering was the lingua franca of what adherents referred to as the Stanley Opportunity.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 15 July 2026
  • Baric worked closely with researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which many adherents to the lab-leak theory posit as the source of the pandemic; one contingent thinks that Baric might have been the creator of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
    — Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026
Definition of adherent
Noun
  • A student of history and avid collector of tapestries, Ormund sees himself as a scholar, as Alicent (Olivia Cooke) describes to Rhaenyra in the fourth episode.
    — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026
  • Her face displays the trademark unibrow and faint mustache — a gender-bending look that, scholars say, reflects Kahlo’s defiant repudiation of the classic female aesthetic.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026
Definition of scholar
Noun
  • As a disciple of Brian Flores, new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones is expected to run a highly aggressive, creative and unpredictable defense that applies a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
    — Mike Jones, New York Times, 16 July 2026
  • Ng began learning tai chi in 1989 from Master Gene Chen, a disciple of Grandmaster Feng ZhiQiang.
    — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 13 July 2026
Definition of disciple
Noun
  • Mascots, once an afterthought, are celebrities—Gritty, the beguiling ogre that represents Philadelphia’s hockey team, the Flyers, has significantly more Instagram followers than any of the team’s players.
    — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
  • Johnson, known as DreamDoll Brii on social media, was a budding influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram and more than 500,000 on her TikTok account _itgirbri.
    — Angie DiMichele, Sun Sentinel, 17 July 2026
Definition of follower

Browse Nearby Words

pupae
pupil
pupils
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pupil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pupil. Accessed 23 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on pupil

Nglish: Translation of pupil for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pupil

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