ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sophomore

n. · adj.
US //ˈsɑfˌmɔɹ// UK //sˈɒfəmˌɔː// sopho·more
  1. 1 second-year student (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate American English

    a student in their second year of a four-year high school or college.

    a student in the second year of a four-year educational programme, typically tenth grade in high school or the second year of university.

    Example

    As a sophomore, she finally felt comfortable navigating the large university campus.

    Example

    The university offers specific career workshops for sophomores to help them declare their majors before entering their junior year.

    Usage

    In the US, this follows 'freshman' and precedes 'junior'.
    • second year student
  2. 2 the second in a series (adj.)
    C1 Advanced American English Formal

    the second of something, especially a second music album or a second professional season.

    pertaining to the second iteration of a series, particularly regarding an artist's second album or an athlete's second year of competition.

    Example

    The band's sophomore album was even more successful than their first one.

    Example

    Critics often discuss the 'sophomore slump', where an artist's second major project fails to live up to the high expectations set by their debut.

    Teacher's tip

    While technically an adjective here, it is almost exclusively used in the context of 'sophomore album' or 'sophomore season'.
Origin

From earlier sophumer, from the obsolete sophom, sophum (“sophism or dialectical exercise”), from Ancient Greek σόφισμα (sóphisma). Likely influenced by Ancient Greek σοφός (sophós, “wise”) + μωρός (mōrós, “fool”). Compare oxymoron (literally “sharp-dull”), a similar contradiction.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026