Varsity Meaning
/ˈvɑː.sɪ.ti/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
noununiversity
nounThe principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)
Sentence Examples
He is on the varsity in tennis and in debating.
Tom coaches varsity baseball.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After tryouts, he made the university's ____ basketball team, the highest competitive level.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was very proud to be chosen for the ____ football team, as he had worked very hard to improve his skills today.
Word Origin & History
First attested in the mid 17th century. Clipping of univarsity, reflecting an archaic pronunciation of university.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] and then to lyrically proclaim that, not only was it a way they had in the Varsity to drive dull care away, but that the same practice was also pursued in the army and navy for the attainment of a similar end."
— 1853, Cuthbert Bede [pseudonym; Edward Bradley], “Mr. Verdant Green’s Morning Reflections are not so pleasant as his Evening Diversions”, in The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, London: Nathaniel Cooke, […], →OCLC, page 71:
"There were sixteen of them in all, for the most part upper classmen who had failed to make the varsity the year before, with a sprinkling of sophomores and two freshmen."
— 1903, Ralph Henry Barbour, C. M. Relyea, Weatherby's Inning: A Story of College Life and Baseball, New York: D. Appleton and Company:
"A small Pennsylvania university has only one varsity program: e-sports. Is this the future of college athletics?"
— 2019 November 13, Luke Winkie, “Why Colleges Are Betting Big on Video Games”, in The Atlantic:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After tryouts, he made the university's ____ basketball team, the highest competitive level.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was very proud to be chosen for the ____ football team, as he had worked very hard to improve his skills today.