junior varsity

American  

noun

Sports.

junior varsities plural

1. a university, college, or school team that consists of players who lack the qualifications or skill necessary for the varsity and compete against other teams of similar composition or ability.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• junior varsities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of junior varsity

First recorded in 1945–50

Compare meaning

How does junior-varsity compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• varsity vs. junior varsity

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

junior varsity

Hawthorne does not have a junior varsity team.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026

The priority is getting on scouts’ radar as quickly as possible—and a season or two on junior varsity is unacceptable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

Eventually, Little would play in junior varsity football games as a punter, before jumping up to varsity level.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

As a high-schooler in North Carolina, he’d been stuck on junior varsity for two years, which he later called “the best thing that could have happened.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025

The sophomores were officially demoted to junior varsity status; the older boys would row as varsity.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown