teenager
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of teenager
Explanation
If you're younger than 20 but older than 12, congratulations! You're a teenager! Teenagers are also known as teens or adolescents. Generally, teenagers have finished elementary school, are growing fairly quickly, and are in the last stage of development before they become official adults. As a teenager, the things you may do include graduating from high school, getting a driver's license, and working at a paid job. Before teenager was coined in the 1920s, the word was teener.
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.
“It was apparent that he had this authenticity and felt like a real teenager, which is something that is very difficult to find,” says Chiarella.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026
Before, the teenager "could not tolerate" being in a hair salon.
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2026
Tucker’s season so far has looked more like a teenager testing out their driver’s license: stopping and starting and stopping again.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
Their star is none other than the 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, soccer’s most electrifying teenager.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
I’d been just a teenager when Dr. Claytor had first told me that I would be a good research mathematician.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
