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Valedictory addresses delivered by earnest young valedictorians at high school and college graduations are as much a sign of spring in the United States as baseball games and cookouts. Though we don’t know where the first valedictory address was given, we do know that the word was an institution at some colleges in the U.S. by the mid-1700s. English speakers and writers have also used valedictory in non-academic settings since the mid-1600s. Since a valedictory speech is given at the end of an academic career, it is perfectly in keeping with the meaning of its Latin ancestor, valedicere, which means "to say farewell."
Synonyms
Examples of valedictory in a Sentence
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2023
Brief, bounded, securely valedictory, as a form the wedding speech is perhaps not well suited to the twin relationship, which is both totalizing and ambivalent.
—Jean Garnett, The New Yorker, 10 July 2023
Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2024
Last week, citing security concerns, university officials canceled the valedictory address that was to be given by a Muslim biomedical engineering major.
—Shawn Hubler, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for valedictory 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'valedictory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near valedictory
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“Valedictory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/valedictory. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
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