Thesis

THEE-siss /ˈθiːsɪs/
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What it really means

In the UK, "thesis" usually means the long research work written for a PhD. The undergraduate or master's version is normally called a dissertation — the opposite of American usage.

Chinese explanation
在英国,thesis 通常指博士论文;本科和硕士论文一般叫 dissertation——正好和美国的用法相反。

Example conversation

A: How's the thesis going? B: Eighty thousand words down, one chapter to go.
A:博士论文写得怎么样? B:写了八万词了,还剩一章。

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Official sources

Rules and amounts change — confirm important details with the official source.
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Reviewed by the UK Decoded editorial team · Last checked 24 July 2026 · Report a mistake