adult
a person who is fully grown or developed or of age.
a full-grown animal or plant.
a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law.
having attained full size and strength; grown up; mature: an adult person, animal, or plant.
of, relating to, or befitting adults.
intended for adults; not suitable for children: adult entertainment.
Informal. (of a young person) to do things and assume responsibilities that are associated with being an adult; act like an adult (usually used facetiously about minor accomplishments): I cook dinner for myself most nights—guess that means I'm adulting.
Origin of adult
1Other words from adult
- a·dult·hood, noun
- a·dult·like, adjective
- a·dult·ly, adverb
- a·dult·ness, noun
- non·a·dult, adjective, noun
- qua·si-a·dult, adjective
- sub·a·dult, adjective, noun
- sub·a·dult·ness, noun
- un·a·dult, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use adult in a sentence
Seventy-two adults between the ages of 18 and 50 are participating in the trial, led by the pediatrics department at Oxford.
“Price for adults to $4250; From 10 years to 14 years to $2125; Under 10 years free,” the listing says.
Adults prepare food and drink dark sweet tea on the doorsteps of their homes as they watch their children playing.
These young adults have voluntarily checked out of a political system they consider corrupt and dysfunctional.
The latest reported death toll is 80 children and 46 adults, but that is expected to rise.
Taliban: We Slaughtered 100+ Kids Because Their Parents Helped America | Sami Yousafzai | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Three immatures were collected and adults were seen feeding young fledglings at Pisté.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula | Erwin E. KlaasNo young Cave Swallows were taken and gonads of adults were in various stages of reproductive activity.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula | Erwin E. KlaasMany adults, it is said, hardly have a rudiment of this feeling, pairing the most fiercely antagonistic tints.
Children's Ways | James SullyThis was why we resolved, at the time of our arrival, not to baptize any adults unless they were previously well catechized.
Many adults assume that a child can look at a landscape as they look at it, taking in the whole picturesque effect.
Children's Ways | James Sully
British Dictionary definitions for adult
/ (ˈædʌlt, əˈdʌlt) /
having reached maturity; fully developed
of or intended for mature people: adult education
regarded as suitable only for adults, because of being pornographic: adult films and magazines
a person who has attained maturity; a grownup
a mature fully grown animal or plant
law a person who has attained the age of legal majority (18 years for most purposes): Compare infant
Origin of adult
1Derived forms of adult
- adulthood, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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