grown-up

American  

[grohn-uhp] / ˈgroʊnˈʌp /

adjective

1. having reached the age of maturity.

2. characteristic of or suitable for adults.

   grown-up behavior; grown-up fiction.

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grown-up British  

adjective

1. having reached maturity; adult

2. suitable for or characteristic of an adult

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noun

1. an adult

Other Word Forms

• grown-upness noun

Etymology

Origin of grown-up

First recorded in 1625–35; adj. use of verb phrase grow up

Example Sentences

Using legs and feet, you could get yourself upright so that you looked like a real grown-up person.

From Literature

Once you were upright, like a grown-up, you never had to eat rug.

From Literature

Now he was a real grown-up, and he hoped that soon they would get him some blue jeans like all grown-ups, so that he would never have to wear dumb baby overalls again.

From Literature

Unlike the judge’s chambers, where everything had been so hulking it had made the boy feel like an ant, the social worker’s office seemed more like a room in a house than a place a grown-up might work.

From Literature

It felt strange to ask a grown-up this, but Julio did not look so great.

From Literature