"academic" in the noun sense

1. academician, academic, faculty member

an educator who works at a college or university

"academic" in the adjective sense

1. academic

associated with academia or an academy

"the academic curriculum"

"academic gowns"

2. academic

hypothetical or theoretical and not expected to produce an immediate or practical result

"an academic discussion"

"an academic question"

3. academic, donnish, pedantic

marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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