Definition

Noun: A person who is a student at or a graduate of a university that is a member of the Ivy League, a group of eight prestigious, long-established, private universities in the northeastern United States. The term often carries connotations of academic excellence, social privilege, and a certain traditional or elite status.

Usage

The term "ivy leaguer" is used to identify someone based on their affiliation with an Ivy League institution. It is a neutral descriptive term but can be used with positive, neutral, or sometimes slightly critical connotations depending on the context, implying traits associated with those schools such as high achievement, ambition, or perceived elitism.

Examples

• She is a true ivy leaguer, having earned both her undergraduate and law degrees from Yale.
• The firm tends to recruit heavily from top schools, so there are several ivy leaguers in the management training program.
• His polished demeanor and network of contacts marked him as a typical ivy leaguer.

Advanced Usage

• The term can sometimes be used in a mildly pejorative or stereotypical way to highlight perceived elitism, a sense of entitlement, or a disconnect from everyday experiences.
  • The politician's proposal was criticized as being out of touch, crafted by a bunch of ivy leaguers who don't understand the struggles of ordinary people.

Variants and Related Words

• Ivy League (noun): The collective group of eight universities (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Yale). Also used as an adjective (e.g., Ivy League education, Ivy League school).
• Ivy (noun, informal): A shortened, informal reference to an Ivy League school or, by extension, an ivy leaguer.
  • He got into several Ivies.

Synonyms

• Elite university graduate
• Graduate of a prestigious school

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Ivy-covered walls: A phrase evoking the traditional, historic campuses of Ivy League schools, often used to symbolize the institutions themselves or a certain rarefied academic atmosphere.
  • He spent his formative years within the ivy-covered walls of Princeton.

Noun

1. a student or graduate at an Ivy League school