undergraduate

/ˈʌndərˌgrædʒəwət/

/ˈʌndəgrædʒuət/

Other forms: undergraduates

An undergraduate is a college or university student who's not a graduate student. After high school, you can become an undergraduate.

Undergraduates are students of universities and colleges: they've graduated from high school and have been accepted to college, but they haven't graduated yet. If the under in undergraduate seems confusing, that's because there are also graduate students, students who have a college degree but are no longer undergraduates and are pursuing an advanced degree, like a Master's or Ph.D. Lots of people say being an undergraduate was one of the best times of their lives: it's an exciting thing to be.

Definitions of undergraduate

1. noun

   a university student who has not yet received a first degree
   synonyms: undergrad

   types:

   co-ed, college girl

   a female student at a coeducational college or university

   lowerclassman, underclassman

   an undergraduate who is not yet a senior

   senior

   an undergraduate student during the year preceding graduation

   fresher, freshman

   a first-year undergraduate

   junior

   a third-year undergraduate

   soph, sophomore

   a second-year undergraduate

   type of:

   college boy, college man, collegian

   a student (or former student) at a college or university