- Grade-grubber is a derogatory term. It is used to describe someone who goes to extraordinary lengths to attain the highest grade possible. Often it is one who contests the grade they received initially, to try to get more points. There is a metaphorical connection between a grub, which is an insect that scrounges for food in the dirt and one who scrounges for points on a graded assignment. This term is primarily used among students in high school and college.
grade-grubber
noun; compounding
one who attempts to get the highest grade possible, by means of groveling, complaining, coercing, or any other possible means
Etymology : Grade-grubber is a compounding, grade ‘letter/number indicating assessment of student’s work’ + grub ‘to dig’+ er (noun forming). The word grade comes from French grade, meaning ‘a degree’, from Latin gradus, meaning ‘a step, a position, a degree’, from the Latin verb gradi, meaning ‘to step, walk, go’. In 1886, the word grade came to mean ‘letter-mark indicating assessment of a student’s work’ in English. The word grub came from the Old English word grubbian, from the Old High German word grubilon, meaning ‘to dig, search’. The suffix -er on grub gives the term the meaning ‘one who digs’.
Source : “I hate being in classes with premeds, they are all grade-grubbers.” –Friend, September 2008
Last modified: 4 December 2008