Academic ˌækəˈdemɪk Practical Studying Adjective High/Low Standards Brilliant

• high/low academic standards
• she had a brilliant academic career.
• one of this country's most prestigious academic institutions
• improving the academic achievement of all students

academic

1. connected with education, especially studying in schools and universities
• high/low academic standards
• She had a brilliant academic career.
• one of this country's most prestigious academic institutions
• improving the academic achievement of all students
• The university is renowned throughout the world for its academic excellence.
• academic research/researchers
• We are deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom.

Extra Examples

• He retired from academic life and went into politics.
• The academic year usually starts in September.
• It is regarded as the top academic institution in the city.
• This university will do all it can to defend academic freedom.
• academic research
• The enrolment criteria are geographical rather than academic.
• Our courses cover a range of academic disciplines.
2. involving a lot of reading and studying rather than practical or technical skills
• a mixture of vocational and academic courses
• people whose skills are practical rather than academic
• academic qualifications/subjects

Extra Examples

• We are looking for practical experience as well as academic achievement.
• She had very few academic qualifications.
• The writers' approach is not overly academic.
• We need to combine academic and applied knowledge.
• I wasn't sure I could cope with the academic demands of the course.
3. good at subjects involving a lot of reading and studying
• She wasn't very academic and hated school.
4. not connected to a real or practical situation and therefore not important
• It's a purely academic question.
• The whole thing's academic now—we can't win anyway.
• Most of his questions were of an academic nature.

Word Origin

• mid 16th cent.: from French académique or medieval Latin academicus, from academia, from Greek akadēmeia, from Akadēmos, the hero after whom Plato's garden was named.