Definition of 'academic'

academic

(ækədemɪk )

Word forms: plural academics

1. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]

Academic is used to describe things that relate to the work done in schools, colleges, and universities, especially work which involves studying and reasoning rather than practical or technical skills.

Their academic standards are high.

I was terrible at school and left with few academic qualifications.

academically (ækədemɪkli ) adverb

He is academically gifted.

I was only average academically, but was good at sports.

2. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]

Academic is used to describe things that relate to schools, colleges, and universities.

...the start of the last academic year.

I'd had enough of academic life.

3. adjective

Academic is used to describe work, or a school, college, or university, that places emphasis on studying and reasoning rather than on practical or technical skills.

The author has settled for a more academic approach.

Different schools teach different types of syllabus, from the highly academic to the broadly vocational.

Synonyms: scholarly, learned, intellectual, literary More Synonyms of academic

4. adjective

Someone who is academic is good at studying.

The system is failing most disastrously among less academic children.

Synonyms: studious, serious, intellectual, eager More Synonyms of academic

5. countable noun

An academic is a member of a university or college who teaches or does research.

Synonyms: scholar, intellectual, don, student More Synonyms of academic

6. adjective

You can say that a discussion or situation is academic if you think it is not important because it has no real effect or cannot happen.

This was not an academic exercise–soldiers' lives were at risk.

Such is the size of the problem that these arguments are purely academic.

More Synonyms of academic

academic

(ˌækəˈdɛmɪk ) or academical (ˌækəˈdɛmɪkəl)

adjective

belonging or relating to a place of learning, esp a college, university, or academy

of purely theoretical or speculative interest

an academic argument

excessively concerned with intellectual matters and lacking experience of practical affairs

(esp of a schoolchild) having an aptitude for study

conforming to set rules and traditions; conventional

an academic painter

relating to studies such as languages, philosophy, and pure science, rather than applied, technical, or professional studies

noun

a member of a college or university

Derived forms

academically (ˌacaˈdemically)

adverb

academic in American English

(ˌækəˈdɛmɪk ; akˌədemˈik)

adjective

of colleges, universities, etc.; scholastic; scholarly

having to do with general or liberal rather than technical or vocational education

of or belonging to an academy of scholars, artists, etc.

following fixed rules or conventions; pedantic or formalistic

an academic style of painting

merely theoretical; having no direct practical application

an academic question

: Also ˌacaˈdemical (ˌækəˈdɛmɪkəl ; akˌədemˈikəl)

noun

a teacher or student at a college or university

Word origin of 'academic'

L academicus < academia: see academy

Example sentences containing 'academic'

Dad was more concerned with our thinking than academic success. Times, Sunday Times (2009)My preaching became more personal and less academic. Christianity Today (2000)The point at issue was in fact rather academic. Jenkins, Roy Truman (1986)We have great need for able people whether with academic or more practical skills. Times, Sunday Times (2009)That was the end of his academic career. Times, Sunday Times (2012)Many are disruptive in class because they have no aptitude for further academic studies. Times, Sunday Times (2016)Providing students feedback about their behavior as well as the adequacy of their academic performances is critical. Pressley, Michael & McCormick, Christine Advanced Educational Psychology For Educators, Researchers and Policymakers, (1995)The initiative aims to teach academics and business people a series of leadership skills. The Sun (2014)This is clearly the fashionable academic subject of the moment. Times, Sunday Times (2008)It also recommends a less academic focus in the early school years. Times, Sunday Times (2010)He was a man of letters rather than an academic. The Times Literary Supplement (2014)Nor does the book offer a fresh and robust defence of academic freedom. The Times Literary Supplement (2012)Some poor learners have more difficulty than other children in applying what they know to academic work. Pressley, Michael & McCormick, Christine Advanced Educational Psychology For Educators, Researchers and Policymakers, (1995)We have all found sound academic and practical training invaluable in the course of our working lives. The Sun (2008)Years of bad schooling cannot be put right at an academic university by massaging the entry requirements or providing remedial classes. Times, Sunday Times (2010)They could also include schools that mixed academic and vocational teaching as well as specialist schools such as sports or music colleges. Times, Sunday Times (2014)Within American academic circles he is a celebrity. Times, Sunday Times (2012)We support schools choosing academic selection where there's big local demand. The Sun (2016)This strange combination of academic success and off-duty hedonism continued throughout high school. Times, Sunday Times (2014)What is the university 's academic record? Times, Sunday Times (2006)Now academics are conducting research into the issue at two schools as part of a three-year experiment into social and emotional contagion. Times, Sunday Times (2016)Omega makes measuring devices and controls that go into industry, R&D departments and academic research. Times, Sunday Times (2011)