first-year

noun

ˈfərst-ˌyir 

variants or first year

plural first-years or first years

: a student in the first year (as at a high school or college) : a first-year student

Experts say fledgling first-years can expect to experience the thrill of autonomy, of being in the driver's seat for what may be the first time ever.

—Jan McCoy Ebbets

Examples of first-year in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Liverpool currently limit most of their first-year pros to a basic salary of around £52,000 a year plus bonuses, but there are exceptions to the rule. —James Pearce, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026

Georgia Gwinnett College is setting new standards for first-year programs. —Stan Awtrey, AJC.com, 18 Feb. 2026

As longtime college math faculty in San Diego County, we were taken aback by the news about first-year students struggling with middle school math at UC San Diego. —Tammi Marshall, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Feb. 2026

Tuition dollars are left on the table each year as only 77% of first-year students continue their education at UNT, university data shows. —Milla Surjadi, Dallas Morning News, 18 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1986, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for first-year

• atmosphere
• biosphere
• centromere
• chemosphere
• chromosphere
• hemisphere
• hydrosphere
• lithosphere
• mesosphere
• microsphere
• miserere
• mountaineer