Meaning & use
kindergartener
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableAmerican
A young child, usually five or six, who attends the first year of school.
Grammar: American use. In Britain, a child of this age is a reception pupil.
Patterns
- a kindergartener at something
My daughter is a kindergartener this fall.
The kindergartener proudly wore her backpack.
Every kindergartener in the class painted a self-portrait.
nouncountablehumorousfigurativeinformal
A person who is very new, immature, or inexperienced, said jokingly.
Grammar: Humorous and figurative: you argue like a kindergartener.
Patterns
- act like a kindergartener
The two senators bickered like kindergarteners.
I'm a kindergartener when it comes to cooking.
Stop acting like a kindergartener and share the pen.
Word forms
| plural | kindergarteners |
|---|
Common combinations
- a kindergartener's backpack
- A kindergartener's backpack is often as big as the child.
- teach kindergarteners
- She teaches kindergarteners to read.
- incoming kindergartener
- Each incoming kindergartener received a welcome card.
- year-old kindergartener
- The five-year-old kindergartener lost a tooth.
- like a kindergartener
- He behaved like a kindergartener at the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kindergartner
- Kindergartner is an equally correct spelling of the same word.
- preschooler
- A preschooler is younger and has not yet begun formal school, unlike a kindergartener.
- first-year pupil
- First-year pupil is a general wording used outside the US.
- little kid
- Little kid is casual and can describe any young child, whereas kindergartener points to the school grade.
Opposites
Word family
- kindergarten noun
- the first year of school, or a school for young children
- kindergartner noun
- variant spelling
- preschool noun
- school before kindergarten
- kinder noun
- informal short form of kindergarten
Commonly confused: kindergartener or kindergarten?
kindergartener vs kindergarten
Kindergarten is the school or the grade. A kindergartener is the child who attends it.
Practice
A five-year-old child in the first year of school in the United States is called a ____.
Choose one answer.
A kindergartener attends kindergarten. Freshman and senior are used for high school or college, and graduate means someone who has finished.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “kindergartener”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.