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There was a time before heroin took over Jessica Grubb’s life. “She was an incredible achiever, she made straight-As, she was smart as a whip, involved in social change,” her father said.

What does straight-As mean in the context?

Note:

  • I have searched straight-As on the QA box, but I didn't find any.
  • I was not aware that As is the same as A's.
  • In my native country, we don't have either straight-As or A's classification.
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  • It means she achieved an "A" grade (usually the highest possible) in all her subjects.
    – JMB
    Commented Mar 29, 2016 at 14:17
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    This is a good question, and it only got closed because we already answered it in a previous question. The closure here is not punitive.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 1:02

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"As" is used as a noun, meaning more than one A. "A" is referring to a grade in school.

"Straight" is the adjective. Together, it means that she received A grades in all of her courses.

The hyphen is incorrect, and probably what is causing the confusion. A hyphen is used when more than one word is used as a single adjective. For example, you could say "She is a straight-A student." But that is not the case in "She made straight As".

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  • In this case, the hyphen might have been used to so that As did not look too much like a capitalized version of as. Straight A's is an easy thing to say, but a difficult thing to write!
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 1:01

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