Meanings
- USnot comparableThe second in a series, especially, the second of an artist’s albums or the second of four years in a high school (tenth grade) or university.
The band’s sophomore album built upon the success of their debut release, catapulting them to megastardom.
3 more examples
“Blonde,” which is spelled “Blond” on the album cover and “Blonde” on Apple and elsewhere, hews more closely to what was expected from a sophomore release by one of the most lauded and enigmatic young singers in pop music.
2016 August 21, Joe Coscarelli, “Frank Ocean Finally Delivers His Album, and a Pop-Up Surprise”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2020I pledged for DKA my sophomore year and went through a rigorous process of weekly meetings and projects, each designed to build fraternal bonds and to teach values such as honesty, reliability and generosity.
2020 June 30, Spencer Wright, “My fraternity taught me the secret to surviving a pandemic”, in CNNSpike Lee’s sophomore film, after his micro-budgeted and critically acclaimed debut, “She’s Gotta Have It,” was this big, bold ensemble musical set on the campus of a Historically Black College over a busy homecoming weekend.
2021 March 5, Jason Bailey, “Watch These 13 Titles on Netflix Before They Leave This Month”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2021 - not comparableSophomoric.
plural sophomores
- PhilippinesUSA second-year undergraduate student in a college or university, or a second-year student in a four-year secondary school or high school.
She was very mature for a sophomore and had several friends who were juniors or even seniors.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveused of the second year in United States high school or college
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekσοφός (sophós)
- Ancient Greekσοφίζω (sophízō)
- Ancient Greekσόφισμα (sóphisma)
- Englishsophum, sophom
- Englishsophumer
- Englishsophomore
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.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans tweede, opvolg-
- tweedesecond in a series
- opvolg-second in a series
Bulgarian втори, от втори курс
- втори (vtori)second in a series
- от втори курс (ot vtori kurs)second in a series
- второку́рсник (vtorokúrsnik)second-year student
Chinese Mandarin 大二, 大二生
- 大二 (dà'èr)second-year student
- 大二生 (dà'èrshēng)second-year student
Dutch tweede, opvolg-
- tweedesecond in a series
- opvolg-second in a series
- tweedejaarssecond-year student
Estonian teise kursuse tudeng
- teise kursuse tudengsecond-year student
Finnish toinen, toisen vuoden opiskelija
- toinensecond in a series
- toisen vuoden opiskelijasecond-year student
French étudiant de deuxième année, étudiante de deuxième année
- étudiant de deuxième annéesecond-year student
- étudiante de deuxième annéesecond-year student
German zweiter, Nachfolger-
- zweitersecond in a series
- Nachfolger-second in a series
- Student im zweiten Jahrsecond-year student
- Drittsemestersecond-year student
- Viertsemestersecond-year student
Hungarian másodéves
- másodévessecond-year student
Italian fagiolo, fagiolo
- fagiolosecond in a series
- fagiolosecond-year student
- ginnasialesecond-year student
Japanese 二年生
- 二年生 (ninensei)second-year student
Polish drugi, student drugiego roku
- drugisecond in a series
- student drugiego rokusecond-year student
- studentka drugiego rokusecond-year student
- trzyletni końthree year old horse
Portuguese secundanista, secundarista
- secundanistasecond in a series
- secundaristasecond in a series
Russian второй, второку́рсник
- второй (vtoroj)second in a series
- второку́рсник (vtorokúrsnik)second-year student
- второку́рсница (vtorokúrsnica)second-year student
Swedish andra, tvåa
- andrasecond in a series
- tvåasecond in a series
- andra års elevsecond-year student
Tagalog duhantaunan
- duhantaunansecond-year student
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
sophomore. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sophomore
“sophomore.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sophomore. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sophomore,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sophomore.
Source: sophomore on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.