Meaning & use
prestige school
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A school that people respect highly because of its long record, results, or famous former students.
Grammar: Countable: say a prestige school or several prestige schools.
Patterns
- a prestige school in a city
- attend a prestige school
- one of the country's prestige schools
She turned down a place at a prestige school to stay near her family.
The town has two prestige schools, and parents camp outside to register their children.
A prestige school can charge high fees because demand for places is so strong.
adjectivebefore a noun
Used before a noun to describe something connected with schools of this respected kind.
Grammar: Always comes before the noun it describes, as in prestige-school culture.
Patterns
- prestige-school culture
- the prestige-school market
Critics say prestige-school culture pushes teenagers toward burnout.
The prestige-school market has grown as families move for better districts.
Word forms
| plural | prestige schools |
|---|
Common combinations
- a prestige school education
- He had a prestige school education but still struggled to find work.
- gain prestige
- The college gained prestige after its graduates won national prizes.
- prestigious university
- She teaches at a prestigious university in the capital.
- elite institution
- Only a tiny number of students enter these elite institutions.
- school reputation
- The school's reputation rests on decades of strong exam results.
Synonyms and how they differ
- elite school
- Stronger and often critical: it stresses that only a few, usually wealthy, students get in.
- top school
- More informal and based on rankings or results rather than on social standing.
- prestigious school
- The usual adjective form; it sounds more neutral than the noun phrase prestige school.
Word family
- prestigious adjective
- Admired and respected by many people.
- prestige noun
- The respect and importance that comes from success or high status.
Commonly confused: prestige school or prestigious school? prestige school or private school?
prestige school vs prestigious school
This is the far more common way to say it; prestige school is mainly a journalistic short form.
prestige school vs private school
A private school is simply not run by the state; it may or may not have prestige.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase most naturally?
Choose one answer.
Prestige school works as a noun phrase with an article: a prestige school. Option 2 drops the noun school, option 3 puts the modifier after the noun, and option 4 turns the phrase into an unrelated abstract meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prestige school”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.