Sophomore

In sports, sophomore may also refer to a professional athlete in their second season. In entertainment, television series in their second season may be referred to as sophomore shows, while actors and musicians experiencing their second major success may be referred to as sophomore artists.

High school

The 10th grade is the second year of a student's high school period (usually aged 15–16) in the United States and is referred to as sophomore year, so in a four-year course the stages are freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.

In How to Read a Book, the Aristotelian philosopher and founder of the "Great Books of the Western World" program Mortimer Adler says, "There have always been literate ignoramuses, who have read too widely, and not well. The Greeks had a name for such a mixture of learning and folly which might be applied to the bookish but poorly read of all ages. They are all 'sophomores'." This oxymoron points at the Greek words σοφός (sofos, 'wise') and μωρός (moros, 'fool').

High-school sophomores are expected to begin preparing for the college application process, including increasing and focusing their extracurricular activities. Students at this level are also considered to be developing greater ability for abstract thinking.