sophomore

Pluralsophomores

1. 1
   nounPhilippinesUScountable

   A second-year student at a college or university, or a second-year student in a four-year high school.

   As a sophomore, she finally declared her major in biology.

   The coach is counting on several sophomores to anchor the defense this season.

   Note

   The second rung of a four-year ladder, ranking below junior and senior. The ranks are often used relatively, as when a mature sophomore keeps company with older juniors and seniors. The title belongs to American schooling and is used in the Philippines as well. The "wise fool" behind the sophomoric meaning is why the label can sting even when it only names a year.

2. 2
   adjectiveUS

   Being the second in a series, especially an artist's second album or the second of four years in high school (tenth grade) or college.

   Critics praised the director's sophomore film as bolder than her debut.

   During his sophomore year he switched his focus from chemistry to music.

   Similarsecond

   Note

   Here the school year becomes a counter for anything that comes second. In American reviews it attaches to a creator's second work: a sophomore album, a sophomore film, a sophomore release. That work is usually measured against the debut, which is why critics speak of a sophomore slump. The adjective cannot be graded, since nothing is more sophomore than something else, and on campus it most often sits before year: my sophomore year.

3. 3
   adjective

   Immature and overconfident in a way that suggests a little learning; sophomoric.

   The senator dismissed the op-ed as sophomore posturing dressed up in big words.

   Despite his sophomore behavior at parties, he was surprisingly disciplined at work.

   Similarjuvenile, immature, puerile, callow, childish

   Oppositemature

   Note

   A judgment rather than a rank, and the word's own history carries the insult. It comes from an obsolete sophom, "a sophism or dialectical exercise," and was likely shaped by Greek sophos "wise" and moros "fool." The result is a built-in wise fool, a contradiction made the same way as oxymoron, "sharp-dull." It means the same as sophomoric, and either form charges someone with knowing just enough to overrate it.

4. 4
   nounUScountable

   In horse racing, a horse that is three years old.

   The filly is one of the most promising sophomores on the East Coast circuit.

   A lightly raced sophomore, the colt surprised the handicappers by winning at long odds.

   Note

   American racing borrows the school word for a horse's age. Three is the age of eligibility for the American classic races, such as the Kentucky Derby. In the Northern Hemisphere, racing ages are reckoned from a universal January 1 birthday. A horse therefore becomes a sophomore on New Year's Day, not on the date it was foaled, and the word appears freely of fillies and colts alike.

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