Skip to main content
Urban Dictionary Merch
Your favorite words on things you can wear, drink from, read, or give to a friend.
The Urban Dictionary Store sells gifts you’ll have to explain.

graduate student 

A young adult whose number one motivating factor is free food.
Marissa, a graduate student, just attended a pointless workshop on conflict resolution just because there was free pizza there.
graduate student by Carla Cat October 29, 2013

Gladiate 

The act of wearing the best mascot costume known to man. A responsibility held only by the few and the brave.
Sorry ladies, I have to go Gladiate.
Gladiate by Lavendar Gooms May 5, 2023

gradiate 

The unofficial verb of gradient, often used in image manipulation.
If you create landscape pictures, you'll need to gradiate sunsets to make them look realistic.

graduate student 

One who chooses to add to the breadth of their education by embarking upon a program that may award him/her a master's degree, a Ph.D, or no degree at all. While this decision may, under very particular circumstances, lead to a position as a tenured professor in a university, it will most likely lead to a decade or more of delaying the individual's entry to what most people would call the "real" world. Becoming a graduate student allows one to enter the self-perpetuating institution of academia.
Ex. 1
Typical sign in a physical sciences laboratory: "Do not feed graduate students and other lab animals."

Ex. 2
Grad student: "I'm writing a thesis on the remnants of Victorian culture in modern stereotypes of Transylvania."

Friend: "What are you going to use that for?"

Grad student: "I hope to become an English professor because if I'm lucky, I may one day out-earn high school teachers."
graduate student by academicbubble January 7, 2012
The act of getting your manager agitated or spun up before your coworker has to meet with them.
He was in a pretty good mood, until I gradied him. I feel sorry for whoever he meets with next, he's pissed now!
Gradied by SPWhite June 9, 2019

College Graduate Dichotomy 

When a person graduates from college, although they have a degree they may not be able to get a job because they don’t have experience. But, they can’t get experience unless they get a job.

The term was first coined by Dain Lewis on his blog the smart college grad.
Jack graduated from college with a degree in business. But, Jack didn't work at any businesses while in college. Jack then couldn't get a job after college because he didn't have experience. But, he couldn't gain any experience because no one would hire him. Jack found himself in the college graduate dichotomy.
More from Urban Dictionary
Millennial optimism may be gone, but Gen Z whimsy (WhimZ) is in.
WhimZ by WhimZ! November 5, 2026
Word of the Day on November 13, 2026

Frothability 

The measure of an emotional and over zealous consumer in an upwardly charging market, also known as a bull market. It's characterized by rising asset prices, increased investor confidence, and favorable growth in the markets, bro.
The frothability was evident as over-zealous consumers eagerly engaged in bidding wars, driving property prices to unsustainable levels reminiscent of previous speculative bubbles.
Frothability by cptn.kagaroo1 January 26, 2024
Word of the Day on November 12, 2026

Soul digger

A man who dates women with the sole purpose of exploiting their time, energy, and labor while he sucks the joy and happiness from their lives.
"That guy's a soul digger. He'll expect you to work full time, but you'll be doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and childcare while he plays video games or watches TV."
Soul digger by anonymous November 11, 2026
Word of the Day on November 11, 2026

pod person 

A person pretending to be something they aren't, or an impostor. This is inferred because of the old alien movies where alien pods appear on earth and the "pod people" dispose of the humans and slowly reproduce the bodies, pretending to be humans.
The pod person was pretending to be my father, but I knew that he was an alien when he acted differently than my father ever would have.
pod person by Christopher M. May 9, 2005
Word of the Day on November 10, 2026
A dead drop is a location used to secretly pass items between two people, without requiring them to meet.

Spies have been known to use dead drops, using various techniques to hide the items and to signal that the drop has been made. Drug dealers use this as well.

A common place is to duct tape the item to the underside of a toilet cover in a public restroom.

A signal is sometimes used as well to indicate there is something to pickup, like a pile of stones in a certain formation. After checking the drop the signal is removed.
"The dead drop is the restroom toilet at the Gulf station at the corner of Commercial Ave. and Georges Rd."
dead drop by rubberroom July 23, 2008
Word of the Day on November 9, 2026

No Surprises Wedding

A "No Surprises Wedding," or NSW, is a wedding invitation designation that tells attendees that there can be no unplanned announcements, engagements, events or speeches at the wedding - all actions must be pre-approved by the couple. Anyone who performs an unapproved "surprise" will be asked to leave the wedding early.

This designation comes from Reddit, where so many stories of bad wedding behavior indicated a need to communicate expectations for the wedding behavior of attendees.
You are cordially invited to the nuptials of Brian and Tom on October 31 at noon.

Please note that this wedding is child-free (under 10) and a No Surprises Wedding (NSW). Reach out to wedding planner Sami Smith to request approvals or exceptions; please note that exceptions will be rare. Limited child care for under-10s will be available. All approvals will be noted and included in planning. Unapproved, or surprise exceptions, will result in guests being asked to leave.
Word of the Day on November 8, 2026
Load more