noun
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a young bird that has just fledged
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fledgling
Explanation
A fledgling is a fuzzy baby bird just learning to fly, or someone (like a baby bird) who's brand new at doing something. Awww. If you're not talking about a baby bird, fledgling is often used as an adjective describing a new participant in something, like a fledgling senator still learning the ropes of how to legislate, or a fledgling drama program trying to build audiences for its plays. It can also mean inexperienced and young, like the fledgling photographer for the school paper who accidentally erases all the pictures. If you're British, spell it fledgeling if you like — both spellings are correct.
Vocabulary lists containing fledgling
Words of a Feather: Unflappable Avian Vocabulary
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I'm New Here...
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The Secret Garden
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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:
His big break in politics came ahead of Trump’s first presidential bid in 2015, when he joined the fledgling campaign.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
He said in his book that was standard procedure for the fledgling company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
In the new series, Wanda moves to center stage as she becomes laser-focused on making it big in the music business, convinced that the fledgling rap genre can revolutionize American culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Deep-sea mining seeks to tap previously untouched seabed deposits of a range of commodities, including cobalt and nickel, but the fledgling industry has long been stalled by environmental concerns.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Otherwise he lay quiet like a bruised fledgling, with the dry, parched lips of exhaustion and a body which could struggle no more.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Davies said fledglings would "glide like a kite" once they lost their fluff and got their primary feathers, and were shown the ropes by the older generation.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Their fledglings are about one third lighter, even though the warmest days they experience reach similar temperatures of about 16-17ºC.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026
Amid fading light, the delicate fledglings fluttered in a wind portending a storm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Birdhouse owners say that they wait until the fledglings have left the nest before they harvest and that neither the parents nor their babies are harmed.
From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2024
An ancient peregrine instinct was finally guiding her—do not feed the fledglings.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
