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ルーキー (ruukii) Japanese meaning: rookie | Kotomora
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He is a rookie who joined the team this year.
The rookie attracted a lot of attention in the opening match.
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 がルーキーとして 活かつ 躍やく する for someone to perform well as a rookie
He's performing well as a rookie.
〈 人ひと 〉 をルーキーとして 起き 用よう する to give someone a starting role as a rookie
The manager gave him a starting spot as a rookie.
ルーキーが 台たい 頭とう する for a rookie to emerge and rise to prominence
This season, a promising rookie has been rising to prominence.
Related words 新人 is the broad, standard word for any newcomer (e.g. a new employee), while ルーキー is a katakana loanword used especially in sports and entertainment contexts.
新米 emphasizes inexperience and can sound colloquial or self-deprecating, whereas ルーキー tends to sound more neutral or even positive about a newcomer's promise.
ルーキー is also a loanword for a newcomer but is strongly tied to sports, whereas ニューフェイス is broader and often used for entertainment or business debuts.
Etymology No language-of-origin information is specified. The word is written in katakana and used for a newcomer or first-season participant.
