adjective
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not fully grown or developed
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deficient in maturity; lacking wisdom, insight, emotional stability, etc
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geography a less common term for youthful
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of immature
First recorded in 1540–50, immature is from the Latin word immātūrus unripe, hence, untimely. See im- 2, mature
Explanation
Use the adjective immature to describe something that is not fully grown: “Elizabeth rescued an immature sparrow that had fallen from its nest during the storm.” When used in a general sense, immature describes something in an early stage of development, such as an immature fruit tree or an immature political system. When applied to people, however, immature is often used to describe someone who behaves in a childish way. So if your 42-year-old brother spends the entire holiday weekend playing video games and then throws a temper tantrum when you ask him to help with the dishes, the word you’re looking for to describe him is probably immature.
Vocabulary lists containing immature
List 5
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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Made You Look: Synonyms for "Immature"
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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.
Some immature yellow grapes failed to develop into the juicy grapes used to make wine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Adolescents already have a harder time than adults with planning ahead and controlling their impulses, because of the brain’s immature prefrontal cortex.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
The “Magic Deportation Bus” does nothing to highlight these issues, Hernandez said, describing it as “an immature cartoon failing to make any valid point.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
This is particularly important for humanoids: "The technology is still not there. It's still immature," says Wang.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Yeah, maybe it was just a stupid and immature school yard fight.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
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.
