Meaning & use
educated
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“educated” is a form of “educate”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Having gone through a good amount of schooling and gained knowledge from it.
Grammar: Can follow a degree word: highly educated, well educated.
Patterns
- be educated at somewhere
- well educated
- highly educated
She is a highly educated woman with two degrees in engineering.
He was educated at a small boarding school in Wales.
Educated voters tend to follow policy debates closely.
adjectivebefore a noun
Based on knowledge or experience, and so more likely to be right than a random guess.
Grammar: Almost always appears in the phrase educated guess, directly before the noun.
Patterns
- an educated guess
Based on the clouds, I would make an educated guess that it will rain tonight.
The mechanic made an educated guess about the noise.
Her educated estimate was only a few dollars off.
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Showing good taste, knowledge or cultured judgment.
Grammar: Used about opinions, tastes or voices: an educated palate.
Patterns
- an educated palate
- an educated ear
The critic had an educated ear for jazz.
He spoke in an educated accent.
An educated palate can pick out subtle flavors in tea.
Word forms
| comparative | more educated |
|---|---|
| superlative | most educated |
Common combinations
- educated guess
- I made an educated guess about the total cost.
- well educated
- Her parents were both well educated.
- highly educated
- The region has a highly educated workforce.
- educated at
- He was educated at a local grammar school.
- educated person
- An educated person should be able to weigh evidence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- learned
- Learned (pronounced with two syllables) suggests deep scholarship, which is stronger than simply educated.
- schooled
- Schooled focuses on formal teaching received, and is often used with in: schooled in the classics.
- literate
- Literate can just mean able to read and write, which is a lower bar than educated.
- cultured
- Cultured stresses refined taste in the arts, not necessarily time spent in school.
Opposites
Word family
- educate verb
- to teach someone
- education noun
- the process of teaching and learning
- educator noun
- a teacher or education professional
- uneducated adjective
- having little formal schooling
- educational adjective
- relating to education or useful for learning
Commonly confused: educated or educational?
educated vs educational
Educational describes things that teach, such as a game or trip, while educated describes people who have been taught.
Practice
I cannot be certain how many people will come, but I can make an ___ guess.
Choose one answer.
Educated guess is the fixed phrase meaning a guess based on knowledge. Educational describes learning materials, not guesses.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “educated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.