What does "young" mean?
Offspring, especially the immature offspring of animals.
Young
/jʌŋ/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Offspring, especially the immature offspring of animals.
- Grammar: young is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: immature, new, youthful, adolescent.
- Useful contrasts: aald, aged, elderly.
- Usage evidence: The profane language used on network television makes many parents with young children not want to subscribe to cable.
How to use "young"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "young" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "young" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "young" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "young" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "young" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "immature" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "young", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Offspring, especially the immature offspring of animals. often
"The lion caught a gnu to feed its young."
- 2 any immature animal wordnet
- 3 young people collectively wordnet
Verb
- 1 To become or seem to become younger. informal
"The aging (or younging) of a population refers to the fact that a population, as a unit of observation, is getting older (or younger)."
- 2 To cause to appear younger. informal
"Medicare data was "younged" by a month to achieve conformity with the conventional completed ages recorded in the census."
- 3 To exhibit younging.
"Shoshonitic magmatism younged southwards in the Superior Province, commensurate with the southwardly diachronous accretion of allochthonous subprovinces."
Adjective
- 1 In the early part of growth or life; born not long ago.
"a lamb is a young sheep"
- 2 At an early stage of existence or development; having recently come into existence.
"the age of space travel is still young"
- 3 advanced in age; (far towards or) at a specified stage of existence or age.
"And thou, our Mother, twice two centuries young, Bend with bright shafts of truth thy bow fresh-strung."
- 4 Junior (of two related people with the same name).
"The young Mr. Chester must be in the wrong, and the old Mr. Chester must be in the right."
- 5 Early. (of a decade of life)
"1922, E. Barrington, “The Mystery of Stella” in “The Ladies!” A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, pp. 40-41, […] Miss Hessy is as pretty a girl as eye can see, in her young twenties and a bit of a fortune to boot."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 Youthful; having the look or qualities of a young person.
"Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food."
- 7 Of or belonging to the early part of life.
"The cynical world soon shattered my young dreams."
- 8 Having little experience; inexperienced; unpracticed; ignorant; weak. obsolete
"Come, come, elder brother, you are too young in this."
Adjective
- 1 (of crops) harvested at an early stage of development; before complete maturity wordnet
- 2 not tried or tested by experience wordnet
- 3 being in its early stage wordnet
- 4 (used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth wordnet
- 5 suggestive of youth; vigorous and fresh wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.; A British distinguishing surname transferred from the nickname for the younger of two people having the same given name. countable, uncountable
- 2 A surname.; A surname from Chinese.; A Chinese surname from Cantonese. countable, uncountable
- 3 A surname.; A surname from Chinese.; A Chinese surname from Hokkien. countable, uncountable
- 4 A surname.; A surname from Chinese.; A Chinese surname from Mandarin. countable, uncountable
- 5 A placename:; A village in Saskatchewan, Canada. countable, uncountable
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 A placename:; An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Gila County, Arizona, United States. countable, uncountable
- 7 A placename:; An unincorporated community in Brown Township, Morgan County, Indiana, United States. countable, uncountable
- 8 A placename:; An unincorporated community in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. countable, uncountable
- 9 A placename:; A city in Río Negro department, Uruguay. countable, uncountable
- 10 A placename:; A town in Hilltops council area, South West Slopes Region, New South Wales, Australia. countable, uncountable
- 11 A placename:; Ellipsis of Young County. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 12 A placename:; Ellipsis of Young Parish. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 13 A placename:; Ellipsis of Young Township. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 14 A placename:; Ellipsis of Young River. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 15 A placename:; Ellipsis of Young Lake. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 16 A placename:; Ellipsis of Mount Young. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
Antonyms
Example
"The profane language used on network television makes many parents with young children not want to subscribe to cable."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "young"?
Common synonyms include: immature, new, youthful, adolescent, babies, baby.
How do you use "young" in a sentence?
The profane language used on network television makes many parents with young children not want to subscribe to cable.
How do you pronounce "young"?
Pronounced /jʌŋ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English yong, yonge, from Old English ġeong, from Proto-West Germanic *jung, from Proto-Germanic *jungaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuHn̥ḱós, from *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German jung, jungu, junhs, jungà, jòng (“young”), Bavarian junk (“young”), Central Franconian, Luxembourgish jonk (“young”), Cimbrian djung, jung, junk (“young”), Dutch jong (“young”), German, German Low German, Mòcheno and Vilamovian jung (“young”), Limburgish jong, jonk (“young”), Yiddish יונג (yung, “young”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish ung (“young”), Faroese, Icelandic ungur (“young”), Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍃 (juggs, “young”).
Etymology 2
* As an English, Scottish, and northern Irish surname, from the adjective young, used to distinguish a younger brother or son. This sense is comparable to the surnames le Yunge, German Jong and Junk, Dutch Jong and de Jongh, French Lejeune and LaJeunesse, assimilated from Dion and Guyon. * As a Chinese surname, from the following: ** Cantonese 楊 /杨 (joeng⁴). Doublet of Yeung. ** Hokkien 楊 /杨 (iông / iâng). Doublet of Yu, Yeo, Yeoh. ** Mandarin 楊 /杨 (yáng). Doublet of Yang.