Meaning & use
redshirt sophomore
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableAmericansport
A college athlete in the United States who sat out a year of competition to save eligibility and is now in their second or third year at school.
Grammar: Refers to a person: he is a redshirt sophomore.
Patterns
- a redshirt sophomore at somewhere
The quarterback is a redshirt sophomore who has never started a game.
As a redshirt sophomore, she still has three seasons of eligibility left.
The coach praised the redshirt sophomore for his hard work during practice.
Word forms
| plural | redshirt sophomores |
|---|
Common combinations
- a redshirt sophomore quarterback
- The redshirt sophomore quarterback threw for two touchdowns.
- redshirt sophomore season
- His redshirt sophomore season was his best yet.
- become a redshirt sophomore
- He will become a redshirt sophomore next fall.
- a true sophomore
- A true sophomore has played in every season since arriving.
Synonyms and how they differ
- second-year player
- A second-year player is a plain description of years on the team, while redshirt sophomore points to a held-back eligibility year.
- sophomore
- Sophomore alone only tells you the school year, not that the athlete skipped a season of play.
Word family
Commonly confused: redshirt sophomore or redshirt junior?
redshirt sophomore vs redshirt junior
A redshirt junior has been at school three years academically and still has eligibility left; a redshirt sophomore is one year behind that.
Practice
Which statement best describes a redshirt sophomore?
Choose one answer.
Redshirting means sitting out competition to save eligibility. Suspension and failure are academic problems, not what the term means.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “redshirt sophomore”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.