the point, state, or age at which a person officially becomes an adult.
the process of becoming an adult.
the state or process of reaching maturity, acceptance, or readiness.
of, relating to, or designating the point or process of reaching adulthood.
of, relating to, or designating the point or process of reaching maturity, acceptance, or readiness.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some might call those words prophetic but any rabbinical aspiration Israel had in her youth would have to wait—as the field wasn’t open to women when she was coming of age.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
That tile so far has proved to perform well and be power-efficient, Altavilla said, and therefore “really signals a coming of age of 18A for Intel.”
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
He played the titular Dawson Leery, a soft-hearted and naive high schooler coming of age in a small Massachusetts town.
From Salon • Feb. 11, 2026
The company's new show is an ambitious production of a 2006 Broadway musical, a challenging coming of age story about a group of young people in a strict nineteenth century community.
From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026
They are not yet adults, but in that middle stage, late adolescence, coming of age.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
