fledgling

American  

[flej-ling] / ˈflɛdʒ lɪŋ /

especially British, fledgeling

noun

fledglings plural

1. a young bird just fledged.

2. an inexperienced person.

   Synonyms:

   greenhorn, freshman, beginner, tyro, novice

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adjective

1. young, new, or inexperienced.

   a fledgling diver.

fledgling British  

/ ˈflɛdʒlɪŋ /

noun

1. a young bird that has just fledged

2. 1. a young and inexperienced or untried person, organization or system

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fledgling Scientific  

/ flĕj′lĭng /

1. A young bird that has just grown the feathers needed to fly and is capable of surviving outside the nest.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fledglings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fledgling

First recorded in 1820–30; fledge + -ling ¹

Explanation

A fledgling is a fuzzy baby bird just learning to fly, or someone (like a baby bird) who's brand new at doing something. Awww. If you're not talking about a baby bird, fledgling is often used as an adjective describing a new participant in something, like a fledgling senator still learning the ropes of how to legislate, or a fledgling drama program trying to build audiences for its plays. It can also mean inexperienced and young, like the fledgling photographer for the school paper who accidentally erases all the pictures. If you're British, spell it fledgeling if you like — both spellings are correct.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fledgling fledglings

These fledgling coaches come from all sorts of backgrounds.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

There’s a lot of bad crowd work out there, just like there is bad anything else — fledgling or whatever rookie stuff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

The end of the Revolutionary War meant the fledgling U.S. no longer had the protection of Great Britain’s Royal Navy, the largest fleet in the world.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

The fledgling market is starting to get crowded.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

Henrietta’s cells helped launch the fledgling field of virology, but that was just the beginning.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Their fledglings are about one third lighter, even though the warmest days they experience reach similar temperatures of about 16-17ºC.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026

Amid fading light, the delicate fledglings fluttered in a wind portending a storm.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025

Birdhouse owners say that they wait until the fledglings have left the nest before they harvest and that neither the parents nor their babies are harmed.

From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2024

Spoonbill fledglings at a nature reserve are believed to be the first known breeding success in the Norfolk Broads for about 400 years.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2023

They will dig away the earth from under the bodies of small creatures, such as shrew mice and fallen fledglings, and then lay their eggs on them before covering them with soil.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

• chick
• nestling