Peter Pan

American  

noun

1. the hero of Sir James M. Barrie's play about a boy who never grew up.

2. (italics) the play itself (1904).

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Peter Pan British  

noun

1. a youthful, boyish, or immature man

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Peter Pan Cultural  

1. (1904) A play by the Scottish author James Matthew Barrie about a boy who lives in Neverland, better known as Never-Never Land, a country where no child ever grows up. Peter brings the three children of the Darling family from London to Never-Never Land; they eventually decide not to stay, but Wendy, the eldest, promises to return every spring. Peter is assisted by his guardian fairy, Tinker Bell, and in the play he defeats his enemy, the pirate Captain Hook.

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Etymology

Origin of Peter Pan

C20: after the main character in Peter Pan (1904), a play by J. M. Barrie

Example Sentences

My bargaining with the moral universe is that I still listen to “Off the Wall,” weakly reasoning that it came out before Jackson launched his Peter Pan act.

From Salon • May 14, 2026

He built new homes and created the Meare boating lake, inspired by JM Barrie's Peter Pan stories.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026

I read Hans Christian Andersen’s sad and frightening tales; I read the E. Nesbit books, and the usual children’s classics of the time, such as Treasure Island and Peter Pan.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025

Over the last decade, Martin has darted through the forest of popular culture like a modern-day Peter Pan, if Peter had been less afraid of growing up and more concerned with what that actually means.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025

Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging like a blond Peter Pan, putting out fires from the second green explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan