junior

[ joon-yer ]

adjective

1. younger (designating the younger of two men bearing the same full name, as a son named after his father; often written as Jr. or jr. following the name): Compare senior ( def 1 ).

   May I speak with the junior Mr. Hansen?

   Mr. Edward Andrew Hansen, Jr.

2. of more recent appointment or admission, as to an office or status; of lower rank or standing:

   a junior partner.

3. (in American universities, colleges, and schools) noting or pertaining to the class or year next below that of the senior.
4. Finance. subordinate to preferred creditors, mortgagees, and the like.
5. of later date; subsequent to:

   His appointment is junior to mine by six months.

6. composed of younger members:

   The junior division of the camp went on the hike.

7. being smaller than the usual size:

   The hotel has special weekend rates on junior suites.

8. (of an iron or steel shape) relatively small, but rolled to a standard form.
9. of, for, or designating clothing in sizes 3–15 or those who wear it:

   a junior dress; junior measurements; the junior department.

noun

1. a person who is younger than another.
2. a person who is newer or of lower rank in an office, class, profession, etc.; subordinate.
3. a student who is in the next to the final year of a course of study.
4. Often juniors.
   1. a range of odd-numbered sizes, chiefly from 3 to 15, for garments that fit women and girls with shorter waists, narrower shoulders, and smaller bustlines than those of average build.
   2. the department or section of a store where garments in these sizes are sold.
5. a garment in this size range.
6. a woman or girl who wears garments in this size range.
7. (initial capital letter) a member of the Girl Scouts from 9 through 11 years old.
8. Informal. (often initial capital letter) a boy; youth; son:

   Ask junior to give you a hand with the packing.

junior

¹

/ ˈdʒuːnjə /

adjective

1. lower in rank or length of service; subordinate
2. younger in years

   junior citizens

3. of or relating to youth or childhood

   junior pastimes

4. of or relating to schoolchildren between the ages of 7 and 11 approximately
5. of, relating to, or designating the third year of a four-year course at college or high school

noun

1. law (in England) any barrister below the rank of Queen's Counsel
2. a junior person
3. a junior schoolchild
4. a junior student

Junior

²

/ ˈdʒuːnjə /

adjective

1. being the younger: usually used after a name to distinguish the son from the father with the same first name or names AbbreviationJnrJrJunJunr

   Charles Parker, Junior

Other Words From

• pre·junior adjective
• sub·junior adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of junior¹

First recorded in 1520–30, junior is from the Latin word jūnior younger

Word History and Origins

Origin of junior¹

C17: from Latin: younger, from juvenis young

Example Sentences

Lafrenière is one of two junior hockey players — along with Crosby — to have won the Canadian Hockey League’s Player of the Year Trophy twice.

From FiveThirtyEight

Computer science is a passion for Edward Aguilar, a rising high school junior outside Atlanta, particularly combinatorial optimization — a technique that finds the most efficient way to allocate resources.

From Ozy

Mead was bound for the west coast and then American Samoa, her first fieldwork expedition as a junior anthropologist.

From Nautilus

When I was in, uh, late elementary school and junior high school I had a really good friend, and her name was Janice.

From Everything After Z

Through elementary school and junior high school, we would always sit down, everybody at the dinner table, and do homework while I was cooking.

From Everything After Z

And then I did teachers all throughout elementary school and junior high for my friends.

From The Daily Beast

And an anonymous junior in a fraternity at Emory University feels similarly.

From The Daily Beast

You must now wear the same haircut & clothes you sported in junior high…forever.

From The Daily Beast

Hand-picked recruits were invited to rural England for basic infantry and junior command training.

From The Daily Beast

A year later, she enrolled in Dongguk University, where she is now a junior studying criminal justice.

From The Daily Beast

Directors were to us junior clerks, remote personalities, mythical beings dwelling on Olympian heights.

From Project Gutenberg

The tall, lean youngster wore a junior pilot's bands on the sleeves of his blue uniform.

From Project Gutenberg

With them were two civilians, both in rough shooting-jackets and breeches, one about forty-five, the other a few years his junior.

From Project Gutenberg

The girls of the Junior class in modern history were filing out on Friday.

From Project Gutenberg

The Junior class crowded into Miss Carringtons room and took their seats.

From Project Gutenberg