of age
Idioms-
Old enough, according to the law, to be eligible for something, as in In this state he's not of age for buying liquor, but he may vote , or Next year Jane's coming of age and will get her driver's license . This usage was first recorded about 1430. The term under age signifies being too young to be eligible, as in It's against the law to serve alcohol to anyone under age .
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come of age . Mature or develop fully, as in The school's bilingual program has finally come of age .
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.
Karol came of age during the ascent of reggaeton and Latin club music as a new default in pop, and the first third of the show played to those uncompromising but crowd-pleasing strengths.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
Experts say airlines started to really embrace the a la carte — or unbundled — pricing model when online travel-booking platforms came of age several years ago.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
That means a whole generation came of age in an era of gloom and doom.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
Low metallicity is a key indicator of age.
From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2026
In the end, the big difference between him and James Bond wasn’t a question of age.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
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.
