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 of scholar

• 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

Van Bendegem, who would become a leading scholar on ultrafinitist logic, later addressed these concerns by considering a geometry in which a line or curve has width and is both finite and finitely divisible. —Quanta Magazine, 29 Apr. 2026

Ted Kaptchuk, an acupuncturist and leading scholar of the placebo effect, has described this phenomenon in detail. —Hannah Kerman, STAT, 29 Apr. 2026

Although constitutional experts and other scholars have relied on the amendment’s legal history to show that birthright citizenship has been the law without exception for well more than a century, newspaper archives offer another useful trove of evidence. —Lawrence Glickman, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026

Legal scholars contacted by NPR were mostly confused when asked about the White House statement. —Scott Neuman, NPR, 28 Apr. 2026

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