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Neophyte is hardly a new addition to the English language—it's been part of the English vocabulary since the 14th century. It traces back through Late Latin to the Greek word neophytos, meaning "newly planted" or "newly converted." These Greek and Latin roots were directly transplanted into the early English uses of neophyte, which first referred to a person newly converted to a religion or cause. By the 1600s, neophyte had gained a more general sense of "a beginner or novice." Today you might consider it a formal elder sibling of such recent informal coinages as newbie and noob.
Examples of neophyte in a Sentence
Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 14 Apr. 2025
It should not be undertaken by politicians or neophytes.
—David V. Gioe, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2025
For a small entry fee, neophytes and experts alike can spend 10 days tromping through swamps trying to catch the most and largest pythons, with the chance to win a $10,000 first-place prize.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025
And this also happens to be the day that the trauma center welcomes a new class of interns and residents, filling the ER with wide-eyed neophytes like Wyle’s John Carter was in the pilot for ER.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Neophyte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neophyte. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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neophyte
noun
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