Undergraduate Meaning
/ˌʌndəˈrɡrædʒəwət/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA student at a university who has not yet received a degree.
adjOf, relating to, or being an undergraduate.
Sentence Examples
He is an undergraduate in the law department.
Tom teaches an undergraduate course in translation.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ student is working towards his first university degree.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She is currently an ____ student, studying history and literature at a local university.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English graduate English undergraduate From under- + graduate.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Daniel Hajas is a physics undergraduate at Sussex and has been blind since he was 16. He first heard about Giles and the SSDs when Giles was looking for blind students to test the devices."
— 2017 October 10, Vanessa Potter, “My sudden synesthesia: how I went blind and started hearing colors”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2025:
"It’s commonly cited that undergraduates are significantly smarter than average, with IQs ranging from 115 to 130. […] The decline in undergraduate IQs might just be another indication that the worth of a college degree has been hollowed out over time."
— 2024 January 23, Ross Pomeroy, “Why College Students' Average IQ Has Fallen 17 Points Since 1939”, in RealClearScience, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2024:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ student is working towards his first university degree.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She is currently an ____ student, studying history and literature at a local university.