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Glite Dictionary
Ivy Leaguer

Ivy Leaguer

3 6.0
A person who went to an Ivy League university in the United States
  • noun
  • /ˈaɪvi ˈliːɡər/
  • US
translation icon : graduado de Ivy League
  • I think if he had met the person I used to be, the crisp Ivy Leaguer with an answer for everything, he would have barely blinked in recognition.
  • so many Ivy Leaguers

Examples

  • The Ivy Leaguers who staffed and led much of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during the Second World War effortlessly made the transition into the new CIA.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Ivy Leaguers love it.

    Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

  • Those boys are all Ivy Leaguers.

    Dirty Dancing (2017)

  • Clean and cut, a regular Ivy Leaguer.

    The Apartment (1960)

  • A date with an Ivy Leaguer.

    Where the Boys Are (1960)

  • There was a time when Ivy Leaguers did not hold themselves above everyone else.

    Blog text (32)

  • My new boss, a young Ivy Leaguer, told me proudly that the building had long served the publishing industry.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Most Ivy Leaguers assume they are superior to everyone else; how would they have gotten into Harvard or Yale?

    Blog text (32)

  • There's a look about Ivy Leaguers, cool like you couldn't even bother to perspire.

    Where the Boys Are (1960)

  • As a proud Ivy Leaguer, she often shares stories about her university experiences.

Synonyms

grad
vsIvy Leaguer
  • Informal
156 3.0

A person who has finished a course at a college or university

is about membership in a specific prestigious university group rather than any graduate
alum
vsIvy Leaguer
  • Informal
22 4.0

A person who graduated from a school, college, or university

is restricted to graduates or students of a specific prestigious university group
collegian
vsIvy Leaguer
2 5.5

A person who is or was a student at a college

is specific to people from a particular prestigious university group rather than any student

Surface Forms

Ivy Leaguer singular
Ivy Leaguers plural

Morphology

Ivy + Leaguer

The sense 'a student or graduate of an Ivy League university' relies on knowing the proper name 'Ivy League' (a specific group of elite US universities) and cultural knowledge, not just the literal meanings of 'ivy' (a plant) and 'leaguer' (member of a league). A B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would be unlikely to derive this institutional, culture-specific meaning, so the expression is idiomatic and unpredictable from its parts.

Etymology

Ivy Leaguer comes from the picture of thick Ivy climbing the old brick walls of a group of famous colleges that played sports together, and the word Leaguer comes from the word 'league' for that group. So an Ivy Leaguer is 'a student or graduate of an Ivy League university'.