scholar

noun

schol·​ar ˈskä-lər 

1

: a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher : pupil

2

a

: a person who has done advanced study in a special field

b

: a learned person

3

: a holder of a scholarship

Synonyms

• teacher
• sage
• pundit
• savant
• wizard

Examples of scholar in a Sentence

She's a renowned scholar of African-American history.

scholars have long debated whether there is ever such a thing as a truly selfless act

Recent Examples on the Web

In addition to being a Sachs scholar, she was named a Gates Scholarship winner — a prestigious award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. —Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 12 July 2025

Robert Osborn, an early thinker on lawn tennis, was also a religious scholar. —Sam Knight, New Yorker, 12 July 2025

Eva encourages him to write, and gets ahead of herself in mapping out Emir’s bright future as a writer and scholar. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 11 July 2025

Many of the Grateful Dead’s most prominent scholars and writers wrote essays for the book, including Blair Jackson, Peter Richardson and David Gans, who co-curated the collection with Davis. —Paul Liberatore, Mercury News, 11 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English scoler, from Old English scolere & Anglo-French escoler, from Medieval Latin scholaris, from Late Latin, of a school, from Latin schola school

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing scholar

• Rhodes scholar

Rhymes for scholar

• caller
• collar
• crawler
• dollar
• faller
• haller
• hauler
• holler
• smaller
• squalor
• taller
• trawler

Kids Definition

scholar

noun

schol·​ar ˈskäl-ər 

1

: a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher : pupil

2

a

: a person who has done advanced study in a special area

b

: a learned person

3

: a holder of a scholarship

scholarly adjective