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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
Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2025
Even by Louisiana’s baroque political standards, the race was strange: a powerful three-term Democratic incumbent overshadowed by a political neophyte who had not sponsored a single bill in the Louisiana Legislature.
—Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025
There are two important ones for 3D printing neophytes to track.
—ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
Adding to the extraordinary nature of the story, Mr. Carney is a political neophyte up against one of Canada’s most experienced politicians, in Mr. Poilievre.
—Ian Austen, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Neophyte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neophyte. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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neophyte
noun
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