scholars

noun

plural of scholar
1
as in sages
a person of deep wisdom or learning scholars have long debated whether there is ever such a thing as a truly selfless act

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in experts
a person with a high level of knowledge or skill in a field a scholar who is a specialist in the history of ancient Greece

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in students
one who attends a school a competition for promising young scholars from across the country

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 scholars The federal government should not determine what faculty may research, what students may believe, what ideas may be debated in classrooms, or what conclusions scholars may reach. — David Rosowsky, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026 Judges for the Indiana Authors Awards included former winners, writers, educators, scholars, local bookstore owners, and librarians. — Post-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 Constitutional scholars, civil rights groups and California officials argue the orders defy the 14th Amendment and the court’s ruling. — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026 For years, scholars and historians have tried to find other explanations, including economics and stable employment, a desire to serve their communities and seeking proximity to whiteness. — Eladio Bobadilla, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026 As long ago as the 1970s, divinity scholars established the concept of exotheology—a branch of Christian thought that includes the possibility of life in the cosmos. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 Aug. 2026 The July 31 Times story also included side-by-side examples of similarities between some of Arday’s work with that of other scholars. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026 According to scholars, Sicily was a location for Odysseus’ wanderings in the epic composed by Homer around 8th century BCE. — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 31 July 2026 This family feud involving a celebrity highlights three legal issues that intrigue us as scholars of inheritance law. — Naomi Cahn, The Conversation, 29 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scholars
  1. sages
  2. experts
  3. students
  4. teachers
  5. adepts
  6. pupils
  7. pundits
  8. masters
Noun
  • Black sages have shown that Black rage will not be silenced; rather, it is directed toward creative expression.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 July 2026
  • Unlike the majority of the Mishnah—the codification of the Jewish Oral Law—Pirkei Avot has very little Halakhic content and instead emphasizes general ethical matters conveyed through aphorisms attributed to ancient rabbinic sages.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 July 2026
Definition of sages
Noun
  • When a disinfectant is necessary, Hunt and other experts say products with citric acid, hydrogen peroxide and ethyl alcohol, such as alcohol wipes, are safer alternatives.
    — Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Two of the most exciting results, the experts say, incorporate preexisting ideas from the recent mathematical literature without properly citing them.
    — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of experts
Noun
  • Every semester, students walked into my classroom with different levels of confidence, experience and direction.
    — Valerie Mcgehee, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Malonga spoke of these students as not just scholars, but future diplomats for African cooking.
    — Alicia Erickson, Travel + Leisure, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of students
Noun
  • The construction of new schools while the district was cutting staff to balance a multi-million-dollar budget deficit was one point of contention between DUSD and the city's teachers' association, which went on strike in March.
    — Kara St. Cyr, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Every dollar spent moving kids across town lines is a dollar not spent on teachers, books, or counselors in their classrooms.
    — State Rep Maryam Khan, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of teachers
Noun
  • He was investigated by the SS on the orders of Heinrich Himmler but convinced his investigators, all adepts of Deutsche Physik, that he was engaged in worthwhile teaching and research.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Definition of adepts
Noun
  • Moreover, pupils get the chance to gain hands-on experience with opportunities to take photography classes in Scotland and study social media in Tokyo.
    — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2026
  • One of the drivers for the budget reduction is the decreasing number of students attending traditional public schools, which has been declining for two decades and is set to drop by another 8,000 pupils this school year, to 217,100.
    — Austin Horn August 3, Miami Herald, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of pupils
Noun
  • Despite this, some pundits have theorized that Netflix’s aversion to theaters has hurt its films’ chances because the industry sees the company as a force for evil in the cinematic space.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Politicians, social media influencers, journalists and pundits increasingly use it to describe Israel’s war in Gaza — as though one of the gravest accusations in our moral vocabulary has already been settled.
    — Arielle Kaden, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of pundits
Noun
  • Over the next century, cereal companies became masters at selling products as healthy — even as many of those cereals became increasingly sugary.
    — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Young Wifredo loved drawing images from his dreams and was later sent to art school to study the work of the European masters.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of masters

Browse Nearby Words

scholarly
scholars
scholarship
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Scholars.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scholars. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on scholars

Nglish: Translation of scholars for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All