Proper Pronunciation Guide

sophomore

[sɑf mɔ͜ɚ]

Pronounce the first letter “o” as
/ɑ/—and stress it.
Pronounce the letters “ph” as
/f/.
Do not pronounce the second letter “o,” thereby making this word only two syllables.
Pronounce the final syllable like the word “more.”

	He will be a sophomore in college next year.
	The sophomore class went on a trip to Wasington D. C. this spring.

(noun) The second year of a four-year academic program in either high school or college—the other years being freshman, junior, and senior. A student in the second year of a four-year program.

In the second practice sentence the word “sophomore” forms a compound noun with “class,” and the two words each receive a heavy stress because the class is made up of sophomores. Other similar compounds are “sophomore year” and “sophomore students.”
The word “sophomoric” [sɑ fə mɔ͜ɚək] in which the third syllable is stressed, means juvenile, puerile, and immature or over-confident because of one’s own ignorance, arising from the Greek: wisdom (sophos) and foolish or stupid (moros) (moron). It is sometimes said that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.