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adolescent

[ ad-l-es-uhnt ]
/ ˌæd lĖˆÉ›s ənt /
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See synonyms for: adolescent / adolescents on Thesaurus.com

adjective
growing to manhood or womanhood; youthful.
having the characteristics of adolescence or of an adolescent.
noun
an adolescent person.
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Origin of adolescent

First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin adolēscent- (stem of adolēscēns ā€œgrowing up,ā€ present participle of adolēscere ), equivalent to adol(ē)- (see adult) + -ēsc- verb suffix + -ent- adjective suffix; see -esce, -ent

OTHER WORDS FROM adolescent

adĀ·oĀ·lesĀ·centĀ·ly, adverbpostĀ·adĀ·oĀ·lesĀ·cent, adjective, nounsubĀ·adĀ·oĀ·lesĀ·cent, adjective, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH adolescent

adolescence, adolescents
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use adolescent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for adolescent

adolescent
/ (ˌædÉ™Ėˆlɛsənt) /

adjective
of or relating to adolescence
informal behaving in an immature way; puerile
noun
an adolescent person
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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