Meaning & use
honors student
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Meanings
nouncountable
A student who is enrolled in a special program for high-achieving students, often requiring higher grades or extra work.
Grammar: Countable: one honors student, two honors students. Often used after a linking verb: She is an honors student.
Patterns
- be an honors student
- honors student in something
- honors student at a school
She was an honors student in mathematics and took advanced courses.
Honors students are expected to maintain a high grade point average.
He became an honors student after improving his grades significantly.
nouncountableBritish
A student who has been awarded a degree with honors, especially in the UK, for exceptional academic performance.
Grammar: In British English, 'honours student' often means a student in an honours degree program.
Patterns
- an honours student
- honours student in history
As an honours student, she had to write a longer dissertation.
The honours students were recognized at the graduation ceremony.
Word forms
| plural | honors students |
|---|
Common combinations
- honors student in [subject]
- He is an honors student in chemistry.
- honors student at [school]
- She was an honors student at Harvard.
- honors program
- The honors program offers smaller classes and research opportunities.
- honors degree
- He graduated with an honors degree in economics.
Synonyms and how they differ
- high achiever
- A high achiever is anyone who performs well, often in any area; an honors student is specifically in an academic honors program.
- scholar
- A scholar can mean a student or a learned person; it is broader and often implies deep academic study, while honors student is a formal status.
Word family
- honors noun
- Special recognition for high academic achievement, often in the phrase 'with honors'.
- honor roll noun
- A list of students who have achieved high grades.
Commonly confused: honors student or honor student?
honors student vs honor student
In American English, 'honor student' is sometimes used, but 'honors student' is more common for a student in an honors program. 'Honor student' may simply mean a student who is honorable, though this is rare.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'honors student' correctly?
Choose one answer.
All three sentences are grammatically correct. 'An honors student' is wrong because 'an' is used before a vowel sound; 'an honors student' is correct. 'They are honors students' is also correct. So option D is the best choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “honors student”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.