Freshman

//ˈfɹɛʃmən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    a person (of either sex) entering the first year of an institution, especially a high school (ninth grade for US, grade 9 for Canada, grade 7 for Philippines), a university, or legislative body Canada, Philippines, US

    "At the time I was a wide-eyed freshman, but I was soon to grow jaded and cynical."

  2. 2
    a first-year undergraduate wordnet
  3. 3
    a novice; one in the rudiments of knowledge obsolete

    "I am but a Freshman yet in France, therefore I can send you no News but that all is here quiet, and 'tis no ordinary News that the French should be quiet."

  4. 4
    any new participant in some activity wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    used of a person in the first year of an experience (especially in United States high school or college) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
freshernewcomerpuny1st year student1st yr studentabecedarian

Antonyms

All antonyms
maven

Example

More examples

"Felix constantly worries that he isn't amounting to anything, even though he's only a freshman in high school."

Etymology

From fresh + man.

Related phrases

freshman fifteenninth grade

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.