erudite

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“
Accused him of suspecting her of having an erudite affair with Courtney,--erudite wasn't the word she used, but it don't matter, it's as good as any for an old maid.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Characterized by erudition; learned. See Synonyms at learned.
  2. Word History
    One might like to be erudite but hesitate to be rude. This preference is supported by the etymological relationship between erudite and rude. Erudite comes from the Latin adjective ērudītus, "well-instructed, learned,” from the past participle of the verb ērudīre, "to educate, train.” The verb is in turn formed from the prefix ex-, "out, out of,” and the adjective rudis, "untaught, untrained,” the source of our word rude. The English word erudite is first recorded in a work possibly written before 1425 with the senses "instructed, learned.” Erudite meaning "learned” is supposed to have become rare except in sarcastic use during the latter part of the 19th century, but the word now seems to have been restored to favor.

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Examples (50)

  • “At the end of the main course.” He noted that her scarlet, off-the-shoulder, silk gown carried the word erudite in gold and in a variety of sizes and fonts. —  Magazine - Asimov's Science Fiction - 2007 - Issue 03 - March
  • Not the most erudite, although he has a lot of knowledge. —  BETTER TO HAVE LOVED
  • Delia's bright enough, and streetwise, but her worst enemy wouldn't call her erudite. —  dummy1
  • How he lived, for a year or two after this,--erudite pen and braggart tongue his only resources,--were tragical to say. —  History of Friedrich II of Prussia
  • I am very pleased to see that Don Aitkin has now posted a calm, erudite, and focussed rebuff to the Clive Hamilton's elitist piece of crass insinuation and phoney straw men (albeit flavoured with a soupcon of slimy revisionist positioning). —  newmatilda.com - Comments
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

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  1. Middle English erudit, from Latin ērudītus, past participle of ērudīre, to instruct : ē-, ex-, ex- + rudis, rough, untaught; see rude.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French érudit = Spanish Portuguese Italian erudito, from Latin eruditus, learned, accomplished, well informed, past participle of erudire, instruct, educate, cultivate, literally free from rudeness, from e, out, + rudis, rude: see rude.
 

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/ˈɛrudaɪt/
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