Word.ws English Dictionary

junior

Syllables: ju·nior/ˈd͡ʒuːniə/US/ˈd͡ʒuniɚ/

junior adjective: low in rank; having a subordinate role, job, or situation.

Adjective

junior (not generally comparable, comparative more junior, superlative most junior)

  1. (comparable, not comparable, usually) Low in rank; having a subordinate role, job, or situation.
    • He uses the leverage of seniority with the more junior employees.
  2. (not comparable, usually, often preceded by a possessive adjective or a possessive form of a noun) Younger.
    • Far less likely to intimidate your junior genealogist is the Internet, with its databases, message and bulletin boards, online collections, and more. Now is also the time to introduce your children to older relatives, who can be valuable resources and provide precious information.2003, Karen Frisch, Creating Junior Genealogists, →ISBN
    • Humorous books for junior readers are often ignored by the critical community, due, in part, to what Milner Davis describes as a “conventional bias against comic genres” (1996: 101), and I consider this a serious oversight within the field of children's literature.2010, Julie Cross, Humor in Contemporary Junior Literature, →ISBN, page 1
  3. (not comparable, usually) Belonging to a younger person, or an earlier time of life.
    • Though our first Studies and junior Endeavours may stile us Peripateticks, Stoicks, or Academicks, yet I perceive the wisest Heads prove at last, almost all Scepticks […]1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC
  4. (US, not comparable, usually) Of or pertaining to a third academic year in a four-year high school (eleventh grade) or university.
  5. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not comparable, usually) Of or pertaining to the latter half of primary school education.
    • Only about half of the schools had a single closing time, while the others organized different times for their infant and junior children.2018 October 3, Maurice Galton, Helen Patrick, Curriculum Provision in the Small Primary School, Routledge, →ISBN
  6. (Canada, US, not comparable, usually) Of or pertaining to a league or competition limited to players below a certain age or level of experience.
    • junior hockey
  7. (not comparable, usually) Synonym of younger.
    • "Not bad for the junior hand," commented Crediton.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    younger

Noun

junior (countable and uncountable, plural juniors)

  1. (countable) A younger person.
    • four years his junior
    • Miss Mitchell would certainly be most relieved to have a monitress who was capable of organising the juniors at games.1922, Angela Brazil, Monitress Merle
    Antonyms:
    senior
  2. A name suffix used after a son's name when his father has the same name (abbreviations: Jnr., Jr., Jun.).
  3. (uncountable) A clothing size for girls or women.
  4. (Philippines, US, countable) A third-year student at a high school or university.
  5. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, countable) A student in a junior school or the second part of a primary school.
    • My son is now a junior at another, bigger school; but our hopes for his schooling have really remained the same. Of course, we want him to be able to read and keep up at maths but the fact that he is still so enthusiastic about his school and his teacher and his classmates2013 December 19, Michelle MacGrath, The Art of Peaceful Teaching in the Primary School: Improving Behaviour and Preserving Motivation, Routledge, →ISBN
  6. (countable) A junior barrister.

Verb

junior (third-person singular simple present juniors, present participle junioring, simple past and past participle juniored)

  1. (ambitransitive) To work in a junior role (on something).
    • Greenspan had juniored the Demeter murder trial with defence lawyer Joe Pomerant and was, by 1980, well on his way to becoming the most renowned criminal lawyer in Canada.2013, Mick Lowe, Conspiracy of Brothers, page 325
    • Stephens brought with him a general manager, Bob Rodgers. Bob […] never let adversity faze him. He was always in charge. Mr. Rodgers could dance just enough to do some junioring, but acted primarily as a sales manager.2016, Rainier George Weiner, Living on Lifesavers
  2. (transitive) To have juniors (more advanced students) assist in instructing (beginners).
    • The technique of "junioring" beginners and the first five lesson plan and private lessons were adaptations developed at that time. They are credited with the Americanization of Karate as a business as well as a martial art.2006, Jim and Leann Rathbone, James Mitose and the Path of Kenpo

Proper noun capitalized: Junior

Junior

  1. A town in Barbour County, West Virginia, United States.
  2. A male given name, from a nickname for someone with the title Jr. (junior).
    1. Used as a generic name for a son.
      • How far would you go with your own child? How far would you want to permit others to go with theirs?2005 October 4, John Tierney, “What To Do When Junior Wants To Be Technologically Enhanced”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
      • It’s Dad’s day; let Junior pick up the tab.2010 June 12, Ron Mikulak, “Dining calendar: Father’s Day dining specials”, in The Courier Journal, metro edition, Louisville, Ky., →ISSN, →OCLC, “Scene” section, page 16, column 4

junior meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

junior in Hindi

younger
कनिष्ठ kaniṣṭh
someone younger than someone else
कनिष्ठ kaniṣṭh

junior in Tamil

இளமுறை, இளமுறைஞர், இளநிலை, இளைய, பிந்திய, பிந்தியவர்

junior in Marathi

कनिष्ठ, ज्युनियर, ज्युनियरिंग

junior in Urdu

junior
اصغر asġar
junior, minor, small
صغیر saġīr
More languagesFewer languages
junior in Bengali
জ্যেষ্ঠতর পুত্র, নিম্ন, অনগ্রসর, নিম্নপদস্থ
junior in Telugu
జూనియర్
junior in Malayalam
താഴ്ന്ന, പ്രായം കുറഞ്ഞ, ഇളയ
junior in Kannada
ಕಿರಿಯ kiriya
junior in Punjabi
ਜੂਨੀਅਰ, ਜੂਨਿਅਰ, ਜੂਨਿਅਰਿੰਗ
junior in Gujarati
જુનિયર, જ્યુનિયર, જ્યુનિયરિંગ
junior in Odia
କନିଷ୍ଠ, ଜୁନିଯ଼ର, ଜୁନିଅର
junior in Nepali
जुनियर, कनिष्ठ, जूनियर
junior in Tagalog
kubtaunan
junior in Persian
کهتر kehtar

Examples of junior in a sentence

  • There she is: Lady Margaret Hall, eight years junior to me, exhibitioner where I was top scholar, and reading French. (Not veterinary science.)2011, Julian Barnes, Knowing French (Storycuts), →ISBN:
  • A handbook for junior golfers covering a wide range of golfing instruction and information with over 250 photographs of juniors learning, playing, practicing and enjoying the game of golf.2012, Junior Golf in Pictures: The Junior Golfer's Handbook, →ISBN:
  • The last man I met who was at school with me, though some years my junior, had a long white beard and no teeth.1939, P. G. Wodehouse, Uncle Fred in the Springtime:

All 40 example sentences with junior

Synonyms of junior

Antonyms

Forms of junior

Adjective
comparativemore junior
superlativemost junior
alternative formjuniour
Noun
pluraljuniors
Verb
third-person singular presentjuniors
present participlejunioring
past participlejuniored
pastjuniored

Plural of junior: juniors

Origin of junior

Borrowed from Latin junior, a contraction of iuvenior (“younger”) which is the comparative of iuvenis (“young”); see juvenile.

From junior. The town in West Virginia was established on November 13, 1897, and named after Henry G. Davis Jr. (1871–1896), a son of United States Senator from West Virginia Henry G. Davis (1823–1916) who had been drowned at sea off the Atlantic Coast of South Africa while returning home on the steamship Munkesenton.

Words formed from junior

Phrases with junior

22 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about junior

What does junior mean?
Junior means low in rank; having a subordinate role, job, or situation.
What is junior in Hindi?
Junior in Hindi is कनिष्ठ (kaniṣṭh). See Junior meaning in Hindi.
How do you use junior in a sentence?
There she is: Lady Margaret Hall, eight years junior to me, exhibitioner where I was top scholar, and reading French. (Not veterinary science.)
What part of speech is junior?
Junior can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce junior?
Junior is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒuːniə/ (UK).

Words near junior in the dictionary

  1. Junik
  2. Junin grebe
  3. Junin grebes
  4. Junin virus
  5. Junio
  6. junior
  7. junior barrister
  8. junior barristers
  9. junior bridesmaid
  10. junior bridesmaids
  11. Junior Cert

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: junior (page history and authors); Junior (page history and authors); junior (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); junior (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); اصغر (Urdu) (page history and authors); junior (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); junior (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); junior (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಕಿರಿಯ (Kannada) (page history and authors); junior (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); junior (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); junior (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); junior (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-junior.wav.

Cite this entry: “junior.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/junior. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.