valedictorian
noun
val·e·dic·to·ri·an
ˌva-lə-ˌdik-ˈtȯr-ē-ən 
: the student usually having the highest rank in a graduating class who delivers the valedictory address at the commencement exercises
Examples of valedictorian in a Sentence
She was the valedictorian of her class in 1985.
Recent Examples on the Web
Chung was valedictorian of her high school class and is currently finishing her third year at Columbia.
—
Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 24 Mar. 2025
Police say Luigi Mangione, the Towson native and 2016 Gilman valedictorian charged in the murder of Brian Thompson, bore animosity toward the health care industry, which has resonated with those who now view him as an outlaw hero.
—Jean Marbella, Chicago Tribune, 20 Mar. 2025
Charles Hamilton Houston—Dunbar class of 1911, who went on to become valedictorian at Amherst and the Harvard Law Review’s first Black editor—nevertheless dedicated his life to eradicating Jim Crow as an NAACP litigator and Thurgood Marshall’s mentor in his work contesting educational segregation.
—Justin Driver, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2025
Mangione graduated valedictorian from the Gilman School, a private all-boys high school in Baltimore, in 2016.
—Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for valedictorian
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Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 24 Mar. 2025
Police say Luigi Mangione, the Towson native and 2016 Gilman valedictorian charged in the murder of Brian Thompson, bore animosity toward the health care industry, which has resonated with those who now view him as an outlaw hero.
—Jean Marbella, Chicago Tribune, 20 Mar. 2025
Charles Hamilton Houston—Dunbar class of 1911, who went on to become valedictorian at Amherst and the Harvard Law Review’s first Black editor—nevertheless dedicated his life to eradicating Jim Crow as an NAACP litigator and Thurgood Marshall’s mentor in his work contesting educational segregation.
—Justin Driver, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2025
Mangione graduated valedictorian from the Gilman School, a private all-boys high school in Baltimore, in 2016.
—Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for valedictorian
Cite this Entry
“Valedictorian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/valedictorian. Accessed 12 Apr. 2025.
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