Synonyms of scholarship

scholarship

noun

ˈskä-lər-ˌship 

as in literacy

the understanding and information gained from being educated

the historian's new book displays a remarkable level of scholarship

Synonyms & Similar Words

• literacy
• knowledge
• education
• learning
• erudition
• culture
• learnedness
• enlightenment
• edification
• reading
• pedantry
• bookishness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignorance
• illiteracy
• illiterateness
• functional illiteracy

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun scholarship differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of scholarship are erudition, knowledge, and learning. While all these words mean "what is or can be known by an individual or by humankind," scholarship implies the possession of learning characteristic of the advanced scholar in a specialized field of study or investigation.

a work of first-rate literary scholarship

When might erudition be a better fit than scholarship?

The synonyms erudition and scholarship are sometimes interchangeable, but erudition strongly implies the acquiring of profound, recondite, or bookish learning.

an erudition unusual even in a scholar

Where would knowledge be a reasonable alternative to scholarship?

Although the words knowledge and scholarship have much in common, knowledge applies to facts or ideas acquired by study, investigation, observation, or experience.

rich in the knowledge of human nature

When is learning a more appropriate choice than scholarship?

The words learning and scholarship are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, learning applies to knowledge acquired especially through formal, often advanced, schooling.

a book that demonstrates vast learning

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of scholarship

This effort resulted in a few dozen successful, though mostly marginal, pieces of legislation, including one that expanded scholarships for private-school education and another that created an advisory committee to help make the government more efficient. —Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026

Heinricy, who has accepted a scholarship offer from NCAA Division II Hawaii Pacific, is young as seniors go. —Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026

Noah Darnell, a pitcher at Santa Margarita, went from losing a scholarship to attending Harvard. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026

Kasieta, now 25, got scholarships to college and has a job at a corporate investment bank in Atlanta. —Joseph Shapiro, NPR, 12 Jan. 2026