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Synonyms

junior varsity

American  

noun

Sports.
  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.


Etymology

Origin of junior varsity

First recorded in 1945–50

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As a sophomore, he was on junior varsity.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 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

In the next few months, they were told, they would mostly race against one another and their junior varsity and varsity counterparts.

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