PUPILS Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

pupils

noun

plural of pupil

as in students

one who attends a school generally there are 20 pupils in each class

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nonstudents

as in adherents

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

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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 pupils 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 In May, William revealed that George had spent the previous night boarding at Lambrook, where many pupils ease into boarding life before senior school. — Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026 Between 1968 and 1999, Jaray ran the postgraduate course at Slade, where her pupils included Turner Prize–winning British artist Martin Creed, among many others. — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 25 June 2026 Affected babies may show symptoms including constipation, poor feeding, drooping eyelid, sluggish pupils, low muscle tone, difficulty sucking and swallowing, weak or altered crying, difficulty breathing, and generalized weakness. — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 14 June 2026 Other symptoms include constipation, drooping eyelids, sluggish pupils and a weak cry. — Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2026 Here’s the latest harrowing dispatch from the frontlines of education, as yet another higher education instructor laments that his pupils literally can’t read. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 10 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pupils

Noun

Last school year, enrollment at traditional public schools fell by 13,000 students; this year, Steiger projected the district’s enrollment to drop by another 8,000.

— Austin Horn July 15, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
On Wednesday, the Regents will discuss the history and purpose of the A-G course requirements that high school students must complete to be eligible for entry to the UC system.

— Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 15 July 2026

Definition of students

Noun

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
Many liberals had been disciplined to adopt methods that purported to strictly confine legal interpretation, only to discover that their most prominent adherents, whether covertly or unconsciously, had other plans.

— Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 2 July 2026

Definition of adherents

Noun

Most scholars believe the tapestry was made in England, probably in or around Canterbury, citing similarities with illuminated manuscripts associated with monastic libraries there.

— Tiago Ventura, Time, 10 July 2026
But Supreme Court scholars and the public alike seldom pay much attention to concurring opinions, in which a justice expounds on the views of their colleagues in the majority.

— Austin Sarat, The Conversation, 9 July 2026

Definition of scholars

Noun

Back in his coaching career, Cruyff was one of the first managers to be obsessed with the cut of the pitch — a trait that has passed over to his disciples, most notably the exacting Pep Guardiola.

— Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 25 June 2026
Christian Science teaches that the divine laws of Truth and Life, as demonstrated by Jesus and his disciples, continue to operate today as an eternal, demonstrable Science.

— Alistair Budd, Christian Science Monitor, 24 June 2026

Definition of disciples

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“Pupils.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pupils. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of pupils

noun

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