young
adjective
being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old.
young
1 American
[yuhng]
/ jʌŋ /
adjective
-
younger,
comparative
-
youngest
superlative
-
being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old.
a young woman.
- Synonyms:
- growing
-
having the appearance, freshness, vigor, or other qualities of youth.
-
of or relating to youth.
in one's young days.
-
inexperienced or immature.
-
not far advanced in years in comparison with another or others.
-
junior, as applied to the younger of two persons having the same name.
the young Mr. Smith.
-
being in an early stage generally, as of existence, progress, operation, development, or maturity; new; early.
a young wine; It is a young company, not yet firmly established.
-
representing or advocating recent or progressive tendencies, policies, or the like.
noun
-
those who have youth; young persons collectively.
the educated young of today; a game for young and old.
-
young offspring.
a mother hen protecting her young.
idioms
Young
2
American
[yuhng]
/ jʌŋ /
noun
-
Andrew (Jackson, Jr.), born 1932, U.S. clergyman, Black civil rights leader, politician, and diplomat: mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, 1981–89.
-
Art(hur Henry), 1866–1944, U.S. cartoonist and author.
-
Brigham, 1801–77, U.S. leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
-
Charles, 1864–1922, U.S. army colonel: highest-ranking Black officer in World War I.
-
Denton True Cy, 1867–1955, U.S. baseball player.
-
Edward, 1683–1765, English poet.
-
Ella, 1867–1956, Irish poet and mythologist in the U.S.
-
Lester Willis PresPrez, 1909–59, U.S. jazz tenor saxophonist.
-
Owen D., 1874–1962, U.S. lawyer, industrialist, government administrator, and financier.
-
Stark, 1881–1963, U.S. drama critic, novelist, and playwright.
-
Thomas, 1773–1829, English physician, physicist, mathematician, and Egyptologist.
-
Whitney M., Jr., 1921–71, U.S. social worker and educator: executive director of the National Urban League 1961–71.
Young
1
British
/ jʌŋ /
noun
-
Brigham (ˈbrɪɡəm). 1801–77, US Mormon leader, who led the Mormon migration to Utah and founded Salt Lake City (1847)
-
Edward. 1683–1765, English poet and dramatist, noted for his Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (1742–45)
-
Lester. 1909–59, US saxophonist and clarinetist. He was a leading early exponent of the tenor saxophone in jazz
-
Neil ( Percival ). born 1945, Canadian rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His albums include Harvest (1972), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Ragged Glory (1990), and Prairie Wind (2005)
-
Thomas. 1773–1829, English physicist, physician, and Egyptologist. He helped to establish the wave theory of light by his experiments on optical interference and assisted in the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone
young
2
British
/ jʌŋ /
adjective
-
-
having lived, existed, or been made or known for a relatively short time
a young man
a young movement
a young country
-
( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the young
-
-
youthful or having qualities associated with youth; vigorous or lively
she's very young for her age
-
of or relating to youth
in my young days
-
having been established or introduced for a relatively short time
a young member
-
in an early stage of progress or development; not far advanced
the day was young
-
geography
-
(of mountains) formed in the Alpine orogeny and still usually rugged in outline
-
another term for youthful
-
-
(often capital) of or relating to a rejuvenated group or movement or one claiming to represent the younger members of the population, esp one adhering to a political ideology
Young England
Young Socialists
noun
-
(functioning as plural) offspring, esp young animals
a rabbit with her young
-
(of animals) pregnant
Young
Scientific
/ yŭng /
Synonym Usage
Young, youthful, juvenile all refer to lack of age. Young is the general word for that which is undeveloped, immature, and in process of growth: a young colt, child; young shoots of wheat. Youthful has connotations suggesting the favorable characteristics of youth, such as vigor, enthusiasm, and hopefulness: youthful sports, energy, outlook. Juvenile may suggest less desirable characteristics, such as childishness, petulance, idleness, selfishness, or heedlessness ( juvenile behavior ), or it may refer simply to the years, up to the later teens, before legal responsibility: juvenile delinquency; juvenile court; juvenile books.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of young
First recorded before 900; Middle English yong(e), Old English geong; cognate with Dutch jong, German jung, Old Norse ungr, Gothic jungs; akin to Latin juvenis
Explanation
Use the adjective young to describe a person who hasn't been alive very long or doesn't have much life experience. You might feel much wiser and more sophisticated than your young cousins — even if you secretly enjoy playing games with them. As a noun, young generally means "animal babies," like when a mother duck and her young cross the street, though it can also refer collectively to young people: "The young recover so quickly from being sick." When you describe someone as young, you typically mean that they're immature, youthful, or simply not as old as you might expect: "Kids are getting phones so young these days!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In another major blow to Meta, a New Mexico judge ordered the social media giant pay $567 million and take actions to make its platform safer for young people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Nearly 1,400 minors, some of them "very young boys and girls", still remain in Ceuta following last week's crossings, Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego said on Friday.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
It was like scenes from a movie about Europe’s dystopian future: Wave after wave of mostly young men from North Africa pouring into European territory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
As older workers continue their large-scale exit from the workforce, “we don’t necessarily have other additional young workers to fill their spot,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Not every mother cares for their young, you know,” Ragginold snapped.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Burbank locals have resisted growth in the past, said real estate consultant Chris Baer of Avison Young.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Piker initially came to fame a few years prior while making YouTube videos for his uncle’s media company The Young Turks.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Young engineers began to create new products, showed them to the military, who took what they wanted and then started their own development, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Young men who trade stocks daily feel like failures.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Krogh was to head the so-called Special Investigations Unit, working in partnership with David Young of Henry Kissinger’s staff.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
“Imagine being able to see exactly how your body moves and where energy is lost,” says David Cone, no slouch in his younger days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In many ways, younger adults have grown up without friction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"We are talking about real children -- 10 years old or younger in some cases. Many are under 14."
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Jaissle, a former defender with Hoffenheim, was a few months younger than Junuzovic when he took charge of Salzburg in 2021.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
‘She’d started to forget day-to-day stuff, but she could sing along to every word of some old song from when she was younger.’
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
In 2023, then aged 37, Arday became the youngest ever black professor at Cambridge, telling the BBC at the time his work focused on neurodivergence and race in education.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Jason Arday, who made headlines when appointed as Cambridge's youngest black professor in 2023, resigned Wednesday after the university announced a probe into snowballing claims he plagiarised parts of his PhD thesis.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
LONDON—For years Jason Arday, who in 2023 became the youngest Black professor ever appointed by the University of Cambridge, was feted in the British media for his remarkable back story and account of his achievements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
McVay, 40, is a decade removed from the day the Rams made him the youngest coach in the NFL’s modern era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Rubén looks like a chihuahua dog in underwear,” Torito said, laughing and pointing at my youngest brother.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
