The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - academicadj.

1) scholastic, collegiate; scholarly, learned, lettered, erudite: Green's academic background qualifies him for the professorship. The university began publishing academic journals in the 19th century. 2) theoretical, hypothetical, conjectural, speculative, abstract; ivory-tower, visionary, idealistic; impractical, unrealistic, unpractical: The car doesn't run, so the question of miles per gallon is purely academic.