Meaning & use
schooled
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“schooled” is a form of “school”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of school: to have taught, trained or educated someone, especially in a particular skill or way of behaving.
Grammar: Needs an object: the coach schooled the new players in teamwork.
Patterns
- school someone in something
- be schooled by someone
Her grandmother schooled her in the art of baking bread.
The young lawyer was schooled by senior partners in how to handle clients.
He schooled himself to stay calm during interviews.
adjectiveafter a verb
Having been trained or educated in a particular area or discipline, often thoroughly.
Grammar: Often used after be and followed by in: she is schooled in classical music.
Patterns
- schooled in something
- well schooled
He was schooled in the traditions of the village.
The team's captain is well schooled in tactics.
A carefully schooled horse will respond to the lightest touch.
verbtransitiveinformalslang
Informally, beaten or outplayed so badly that the winner seems to have taught the loser a lesson.
Grammar: Often passive and informal: he got schooled on the court.
Patterns
- get schooled by someone
- school someone at something
I got schooled by my ten-year-old cousin at chess.
The veteran schooled the rookie on the basketball court.
We were totally schooled in the quiz by the other team.
Word forms
| present participle | schooling |
|---|---|
| third person singular | schools |
| base form | school |
Common combinations
- schooled in
- She was schooled in French and Latin.
- well schooled
- The chef is well schooled in classic technique.
- schooled at home
- Several children in the village were schooled at home.
- get schooled
- I got schooled by a grandmother in the tennis match.
- schooled by experience
- He was schooled by experience in how not to trust strangers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trained
- Trained is more general and stresses practice, while schooled suggests a more formal, thorough or long-lasting education.
- taught
- Taught is the plain everyday verb, whereas schooled sounds more deliberate and slightly formal.
- versed
- Versed describes someone who has knowledge, whereas schooled stresses that they were deliberately taught.
- coached
- Coached suggests one-to-one guidance toward a goal, such as in sport, while schooled suggests broader instruction.
Opposites
Word family
- school noun
- an institution for education
- schooling noun
- education received at school
- schoolboy noun
- a boy attending school
- unschooled adjective
- without formal education or training
Commonly confused: schooled or skulled?
schooled vs skulled
Skulled is a rare word about having a skull; schooled is the spelling for teaching and training.
Practice
The new manager was ____ in the company's methods by her predecessor before he retired.
Choose one answer.
Schooled in means taught or trained thoroughly in something. 'Learned' would need a different pattern, and 'studied in' would suggest she studied herself rather than being taught.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “schooled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.