A jock is a student athlete, especially someone who focuses heavily on sports and physical fitness. The term now refers to students who play on school teams like football, basketball, or soccer and often spend much of their time training, practicing, and competing.

In schools, jocks are usually recognizable: they might wear their team jerseys on game days, carry gym bags through the hallways, and talk excitedly about upcoming games or tournaments. Being a jock means making athletics a central part of your identity and daily life. It shows up in how you spend your time, what you talk about, and how you see yourself.

The word sometimes carries baggage. In movies and books, jocks are often portrayed as popular but not particularly intellectual, or as bullies who pick on less athletic students. In reality, plenty of jocks work just as hard in the classroom as they do on the field. Many successful scientists, doctors, and business leaders were jocks in school, and many professional athletes are thoughtful, well-read people.

When used as an insult or stereotype, jock reflects a narrow view that people must be either athletic or smart, when most people are more complex than that.