Adolescent

//ˌædəˈlɛsənt// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who is in adolescence; someone who has reached puberty but is not yet an adult.

    "Besides, there are a great many of these accusers, and they have been accusing me now for a great many years; and what is more, they approached you at the most impressionable age, when some of you were children or adolescents; and they literally won their case by default, because there was no one to defend me."

  2. 2
    a juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturity wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, relating to, or at the age of adolescence; at the stage between being a child and an adult.

    "Schools, unless discipline were doubly strong, / Detain their adolescent charge too long."

Adjective
  1. 1
    in the state of development between puberty and maturity wordnet
  2. 2
    displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity wordnet
  3. 3
    being of the age 13 through 19 wordnet
  4. 4
    relating to or peculiar to or suggestive of an adolescent wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
immatureteenagerteenagedat half cockbabyboyish

Example

More examples

"Education about birth control might help cut down on adolescent pregnancies."

Etymology

First attested ?1440, from Middle English adolescent, from Middle French adolescent or directly from Latin adolescentem, accusative form of adolescens, present participle of adolēscere (“to become adult, grow up”), from ad- (“to”) + alēscere (“to grow or become nourished”). The adjective first appeared in 1785.

Related phrases

mid-adolescent

More for "adolescent"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.