: the recipient of honor or recognition for achievement in an art or science
a Nobel laureate
specifically
: poet laureate
lau·re·ate
ˈlȯr-ē-ˌāt 
ˈlär-
laureated; laureating
1
: to crown with or as if with a laurel wreath for excellence or achievement
2
: to appoint to the office of poet laureate
1
: honored for outstanding achievement in an art or science
This was a term coined in the 1950s by Nobel laureate chemist Irving Langmuir …—
Gary Taubes
see also poet laureate
Gary Taubes2
: crowned with laurel
Minted in France in 1807, the front of the medal shows the laureate head of Emperor Napoleon and, on the reverse, an eagle clutching a thunderbolt, part of the emperor's imperial seal.—Brice Stump
Brice StumpExamples of laureate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025
Fermi, a Nobel laureate in physics, had fled fascism in Europe and become a founder of the nuclear age, helping bring the world’s first reactor and first atom bomb to life.
—William J. Broad, New York Times, 19 May 2025
The uprising has set the country on a new path, with an interim government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, preparing to hold elections by early next year.
—Simon Montlake, Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2025
Peruvian Nobel literature laureate and Latin American literary giant Mario Vargas Llosa has died in Lima at the age of 89.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for laureate
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Noun
Marni Rose McFall, U.S. News Reporter Our Evenings Our Evenings Courtesy of Publisher
LGBTQ+
Our Evenings
by Alan Hollinghurst | Random House
A leisurely read; give it two weeks
Hollinghurst is something of an unofficial gay laureate in U.K. fiction.
—Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025
Fermi, a Nobel laureate in physics, had fled fascism in Europe and become a founder of the nuclear age, helping bring the world’s first reactor and first atom bomb to life.
—William J. Broad, New York Times, 19 May 2025
The uprising has set the country on a new path, with an interim government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, preparing to hold elections by early next year.
—Simon Montlake, Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2025
Peruvian Nobel literature laureate and Latin American literary giant Mario Vargas Llosa has died in Lima at the age of 89.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for laureate
Cite this Entry
“Laureate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laureate. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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