adulthood

American  

[uh-duhlt-hood] / əˈdʌlt hʊd /

noun

1. the state or period of being fully grown, fully developed, or of age.

   My mother raised four children to adulthood.

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Etymology

Origin of adulthood

adult ( def. ) + -hood ( def. )

Example Sentences

As Marty and I became parents and navigated adulthood together, my resistance to matrimony started to feel like an outdated quirk.

From Los Angeles Times

We wanted pasta that stretched and sighed, casseroles that arrived bubbling and bronzed, soups that tasted like something rescued from memory and improved by adulthood.

From Salon

In some ways, early adulthood has always been a time of instability.

From BBC

Polar bears in the wild only have a 50% chance of surviving into adulthood, but having a mother caring for them improves their odds.

From BBC

In the words of prosecutor Paul Greaney KC: "Those efforts to rehabilitate himself after a difficult early adulthood only serve to make more shocking, and tragic, what he did in Liverpool that day this May."

From BBC

Related Words

• boldness
• bravery
• courage
• fortitude
• masculinity
• mettle
• nobility
• potency
• virility