adolescent
Americanadjective
-
growing to manhood or womanhood; youthful.
-
having the characteristics of adolescence or of an adolescent.
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to adolescence
-
informal behaving in an immature way; puerile
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of adolescent
First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin adolēscent- (stem of adolēscēns “growing up,” present participle of adolēscere ), equivalent to adol(ē)- ( see adult) + -ēsc- verb suffix + -ent- adjective suffix; see -esce, -ent
Explanation
Adolescent is just a fancy word for teenager — someone who is no longer a child but is not yet an adult. The word can also be used as an adjective. For example, a particular clothing line might be geared toward adolescent girls. This word refers to all things related to teens — teenagers are adolescent, and the adolescent stage is after puberty and before adulthood. Since adults don't have a high opinion of teenagers, this word is also an insult. Movies full of fart jokes and immature shenanigans are called adolescent. If one adult says to another "You're acting very adolescent" that means "You're acting childish." Adolescent means something close to juvenile, another word that refers to young people and childish people.
Vocabulary lists containing adolescent
Spider-Man's Word Web
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Made You Look: Synonyms for "Immature"
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ant, -ent
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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:
In the books and TV adaptations, Laura vividly narrates daily life on the prairie, recounting her adventures and mundane activities in such a way that many readers say they see themselves in adolescent Laura.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Opera came calling, it was a wild, if exciting, adolescent company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Sometimes, rousing our dormant inner adolescent is a job for a very old monster with a rock and roll heart where his soul should be.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
The researchers combined data from 12 studies involving 235 women and adolescent girls.
From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026
He was bought by a zoo in North America when he was an adolescent.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
Jake Collective, a nonprofit foundation founded in Schreiber’s honor, is partnering with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on a five-year, $5 million research initiative devoted the mental health needs of neurodivergent children and adolescents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"The responsibility for the safety of children and adolescents must first and foremost lie with those who design and manage digital platforms," EU lawmaker Sandro Ruotolo said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
UK vaccine experts have therefore concluded that it isn't cost effective to offer the MenB vaccine to all adolescents.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
They monitored 270 children and adolescents participating in the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health birth cohort.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2026
The younger boys were adolescents following fast in the path of their older siblings.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
