dropout

drop·out
D2R1O1P3O1U1T1

noun

Someone who has left an educational institution without completing the course

“The politicians of the world are mere political university dropouts.”

Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

noundropout (countable and uncountable, plural dropouts)

plural dropouts · alternative drop-out

  1. countableuncountableSomeone who has left an educational institution without completing the course

    The politicians of the world are mere political university dropouts.

  2. countableuncountableSomeone who has opted out of conventional society.
  3. countableuncountableOne who suddenly leaves anything, or the act of doing so.

    The pastures are filled with gay political drop-outs, persons of reasonable intent who found the scene personally destructive.

    1980 August 30, David Rothenberg, “A New York State of Confusion”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 5
    1 more example

    To avoid excessive dropouts from the study, we wouldn't employ a single tutored group and a single control group that received no instruction at all.

    2010, R. Barker Bausell, Too Simple to Fail: A Case for Educational Change, page 193
  4. countableuncountablecyclingThe slot in the frame that accepts the axles of the wheels.
  5. countableuncountableA damaged portion of a tape or disk, causing a brief omission of audio, video, or data.
  6. countableuncountableMomentary loss of an electronic signal.
  7. countableuncountableA technique for regularizing a neural network by discarding a random subset of its units.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
flunkout

Origin

Deverbal from drop out.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch uitvaleinde, pat
  • uitvaleindeslot in a bicycle frame to hold the axle of a wheel
  • patslot in a bicycle frame to hold the axle of a wheel
  • padslot in a bicycle frame to hold the axle of a wheel
Finnish pudokas, syrjäytynyt
  • pudokassomeone who has opted out of conventional society
  • syrjäytynytsomeone who has opted out of conventional society
  • koulupudokasone who leaves without completing
  • keskeyttäjäone who leaves without completing
  • pudokasone who leaves without completing
German Aussteiger, Aussteigerin
  • Aussteigersomeone who has opted out of conventional society
  • Aussteigerinsomeone who has opted out of conventional society
  • Abbrecherone who leaves without completing
  • Abbrecherinone who leaves without completing
  • Uni-Abbrecherone who leaves without completing
  • Uni-Abbrecherinone who leaves without completing
  • Schulabbrecherone who leaves without completing
  • Schulabbrecherinone who leaves without completing
  • Studienabbrecherone who leaves without completing
  • Studienabbrecherinone who leaves without completing
Hungarian kimaradó, lemorzsolódó
  • kimaradóone who leaves without completing
  • lemorzsolódóone who leaves without completing
  • kibukóone who leaves without completing
Italian emarginato, escluso
  • emarginatoone who leaves without completing
  • esclusoone who leaves without completing
  • rinunciatarioone who leaves without completing
  • abbandonoone who leaves without completing
  • ripetenteone who leaves without completing
Japanese 落ち零れ, 負け組
  • 落ち零れ (ochikobore)someone who has opted out of conventional society
  • 負け組 (makegumi)someone who has opted out of conventional society
  • 中退者 (chūtaisha)one who leaves without completing
Māori kaiwhakamakere
  • kaiwhakamakereone who leaves without completing
Spanish estudiante de carrera trunca
  • estudiante de carrera truncaone who leaves without completing
Swedish avhoppare
  • avhoppareone who leaves without completing

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

outdrop
Cite this entry
APA

dropout. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dropout

MLA

“dropout.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dropout. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dropout,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dropout.

Source: dropout on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.