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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
JSTOR Daily, 18 Oct. 2025
Despite this packed schedule, the wine industry neophyte is enjoying her time of discovery, like on this recent visit to Manhattan.
—Elizabeth Wellington, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
Fuente is not a complete neophyte in the broadcast booth.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 July 2025
Astronomy neophytes sometimes mistake the Pleiades star cluster for the Little Dipper because the brightest Pleiades stars resemble a tiny, skewed dipper.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 27 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Neophyte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neophyte. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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neophyte
noun
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