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scholarship meaning and examples

2025-09-09

Meaning

The noun scholarship has two main meanings:

  1. Financial aid: Money given to a student to support their education, often based on merit, need, or special criteria.
  2. Academic study/learning: Serious study or knowledge in a particular field, showing high academic achievement.

Grammar and Usage

  • Countable noun: when referring to a financial award.

    • Example: She received a scholarship to study abroad.
  • Uncountable noun: when referring to academic study or learning.

    • Example: His book shows great scholarship.

Typical Structures

  • win/receive/earn a scholarship
  • apply for a scholarship
  • award/grant a scholarship
  • a work of great scholarship

Common Phrases

  • full scholarship – covers all tuition and fees.
  • partial scholarship – covers part of the tuition.
  • academic scholarship – based on grades or academic performance.
  • athletic scholarship – based on sports ability.
  • research scholarship – for research projects.

Collocations

  • Verb + scholarship: win, apply for, be awarded, receive, fund.
  • Adjective + scholarship: full, partial, prestigious, competitive, merit-based.
  • Scholarship + noun: program, fund, committee, holder.

Examples

  1. She received a full scholarship to study medicine in the U.S.
  2. Many students apply for scholarships to reduce their tuition costs.
  3. His research on ancient history demonstrates remarkable scholarship.
  4. The university offers merit-based scholarships for outstanding students.
  5. He won an athletic scholarship because of his excellent basketball skills.
  6. The government has set up a scholarship fund for low-income families.
  7. This book is a work of great scholarship in the field of philosophy.
  8. Without the scholarship, he could not have afforded to attend college.
  • Financial aid (for the money meaning)
  • Grant, bursary, fellowship
  • Learning, erudition, academic study (for the study meaning)

Antonym

  • Tuition fee (opposite in financial sense)
  • Ignorance, lack of learning (opposite in study sense)