grownup
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of grownup
First recorded in 1805–15; noun use of verb phrase grow up
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.
Mr. Reiner later recalled that Norman Lear was the first grownup to say he was funny, when he was around 7 or 8.
All the grownups know what John F. Kennedy said, in words that are famous because they’re what everyone has always said and been right: “Life is unfair.”
Asked by the child why grownups always lie, Phillip answers that it’s because lying is easier than telling the truth.
By the time Decca and tall, blond Boud approach “the great golden goal of every childhood—being a grownup,” they long for a different kind of life.
The grownups were talking about Cleopatra’s Needle and Mr. Gorringe said how frustrating it was to spend six days turning the corner on to West Boulevard.
From Literature
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.