young

¹ American  

[yuhng] / yʌŋ /

adjective

younger, youngest

1. being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old.

   a young woman.

   Synonyms:

   growing

   Antonyms:

   old, mature

2. having the appearance, freshness, vigor, or other qualities of youth.

3. of or relating to youth.

   in one's young days.

4. inexperienced or immature.

5. not far advanced in years in comparison with another or others.

6. junior, as applied to the younger of two persons having the same name.

   the young Mr. Smith.

7. 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.

8. representing or advocating recent or progressive tendencies, policies, or the like.

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noun

1. those who have youth; young persons collectively.

   the educated young of today; a game for young and old.

2. young offspring.

   a mother hen protecting her young.

idioms

1. with young, (of an animal) pregnant.

Young ² American  

[yuhng] / yʌŋ /

noun

1. Andrew (Jackson, Jr.), born 1932, U.S. clergyman, Black civil rights leader, politician, and diplomat: mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, 1981–89.

2. Art(hur Henry), 1866–1944, U.S. cartoonist and author.

3. Brigham, 1801–77, U.S. leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

4. Charles, 1864–1922, U.S. army colonel: highest-ranking Black officer in World War I.

5. Denton True Cy, 1867–1955, U.S. baseball player.

6. Edward, 1683–1765, English poet.

7. Ella, 1867–1956, Irish poet and mythologist in the U.S.

8. Lester Willis PresPrez, 1909–59, U.S. jazz tenor saxophonist.

9. Owen D., 1874–1962, U.S. lawyer, industrialist, government administrator, and financier.

10. Stark, 1881–1963, U.S. drama critic, novelist, and playwright.

11. Thomas, 1773–1829, English physician, physicist, mathematician, and Egyptologist.

12. Whitney M., Jr., 1921–71, U.S. social worker and educator: executive director of the National Urban League 1961–71.

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Young ¹ British  

/ jʌŋ /

noun

1. Brigham (ˈbrɪɡəm). 1801–77, US Mormon leader, who led the Mormon migration to Utah and founded Salt Lake City (1847)

2. Edward. 1683–1765, English poet and dramatist, noted for his Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (1742–45)

3. Lester. 1909–59, US saxophonist and clarinetist. He was a leading early exponent of the tenor saxophone in jazz

4. 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)

5. 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

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young ² British  

/ jʌŋ /

adjective

1. 1. having lived, existed, or been made or known for a relatively short time

      a young man

      a young movement

      a young country

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the young

2. youthful or having qualities associated with youth; vigorous or lively

   she's very young for her age

3. of or relating to youth

   in my young days

4. having been established or introduced for a relatively short time

   a young member

5. in an early stage of progress or development; not far advanced

   the day was young

6. geography

   1. (of mountains) formed in the Alpine orogeny and still usually rugged in outline

   2. another term for youthful

7. (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

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noun

1. (functioning as plural) offspring, esp young animals

   a rabbit with her young

2. (of animals) pregnant

Young Scientific  

/ yŭng /

1. British physicist and physician who is best known for his contributions to the wave theory of light and his discovery of how the lens of the human eye changes shape to focus on objects of different distances. He also studied surface tension and elasticity, and Young's modulus (a measure of the rigidity of materials) is named for him. He is also credited with the first scientific definition of the word energy.

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Related Words

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

• quasi-young adjective
• youngish adjective

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

Goldblum, whose career spans six decades, said he started playing piano as a young boy and "fell in love with it", keeping at it while acting.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Luna, who planned to lead the charge to expel Swalwell before he resigned, alleged that young staffers would talk among one another about Swalwell’s conduct.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

Mr. Orbán, visibly less vigorous at 62, lost to the fiery young reformer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

The young nation was funded mostly through tariffs.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

“Not every mother cares for their young, you know,” Ragginold snapped.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Related Words

• budding
• inexperienced
• new
• youthful