juvenile
Americanadjective
noun
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a young person; youth.
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Theater.
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a youthful male or female role.
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an actor or actress who plays such parts.
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a book for children.
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Ornithology. a young bird that has its first set of contur feathers.
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a two-year-old racehorse.
adjective
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young, youthful, or immature
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suitable or designed for young people
juvenile pastimes
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(of animals or plants) not yet fully mature
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of or denoting young birds that have developed their first plumage of adult feathers
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geology occurring at the earth's surface for the first time; new
juvenile water
juvenile gases
noun
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a juvenile person, animal, or plant
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an actor who performs youthful roles
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a book intended for young readers
Usage
What does juvenile mean? Juvenile describes something that is related to youth or young people. Generally, juvenile is used to describe something that has to do with children, as in Sam folded the juvenile clothing before he folded the baby clothing. Juvenile can also describe something that is related to youth or being young, as in Now in her 80s, Hannah looked back fondly on her juvenile years. Juvenile can also be used to describe something that is related to youth in a negative way, such as being immature or naive, as in Drawing on the walls is juvenile behavior that most parents won’t tolerate. As a noun, juvenile is a young person, as in The lost driver got directions from the friendly juvenile on the corner. Jejune is a synonym for juvenile in the sense of something childish or immature. But jejune can also describe something that is bland or uninspiring, as in He wrote a jejune story about making eggs for breakfast. Example: The author wrote juvenile fiction that was incredibly popular with the country’s children.
Related Words
See young.
Other Word Forms
- juvenilely adverb
- juvenileness noun
- prejuvenile adjective
- unjuvenile adjective
Etymology
Origin of juvenile
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin juvenīlis “youthful,” equivalent to juven(is) “youthful” + -īlis adjective suffix; -ile
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.
The juvenile whale, affectionately dubbed "Willapa Willy" by locals, was first spotted last Wednesday in the north fork of the river, about 145 miles southwest of Seattle, the marine mammal research group said.
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
"And our specimen is also a juvenile or 'baby', so it's perfect for our dinosaur species name to honor Dooly."
From Science Daily • Apr. 1, 2026
“As we speak, a juvenile white shark is swimming underneath a surfer or swimmer somewhere in Southern California,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
North of Stockholm, the Rosersberg prison is making preparations to house children as young as 13 in response to a much-criticised juvenile judicial reform expected to take effect in July.
From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026
Mom said juvenile judges have lots of discretion.
From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
