- 1[usually before noun] connected with education, especially studying in colleges and universities The students return in October for the beginning of the new academic year. high/low academic standards an academic career The enrollment criteria are geographical rather than academic.
- 2[usually before noun] involving a lot of reading and studying rather than practical or technical skills academic subjects
- 3not connected to a real or practical situation and therefore not important It is a purely academic question. The whole thing's academic now—we can't win anyway.
NAmE//ˌækəˈdɛmɪkli//
adverb You have to do well academically to get into medical school. He wasn't very well qualified academically but had a lot of experience.See academic in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: academic