/ˌakəˈdemik/
adjective/noun
adjective
1. related to formal education
That I was not suited to commerce or academic study in no way proves that I should also be unfit to be a painter. - Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) 2. Focused on theoretical learning and scholarship rather than practical application The most dangerous thing about an academic education is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract thinking instead of simply paying attention to what’s going on in front of me. - David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) noun a person, such as a professor or researcher, who works in a college or academic institution A literary academic can no more pass a bookstore than an alcoholic can pass a bar. - Carolyn Gold Heilbrun (1916-2003)