Peter Pan

American  

noun

1. the hero of Sir James M. Barrie's play about a boy who never grew up.

2. (italics)  the play itself (1904).

---

Peter Pan British  

noun

1. a youthful, boyish, or immature man

---

Peter Pan Cultural  

1. (1904) A play by the Scottish author James Matthew Barrie about a boy who lives in Neverland, better known as Never-Never Land, a country where no child ever grows up. Peter brings the three children of the Darling family from London to Never-Never Land; they eventually decide not to stay, but Wendy, the eldest, promises to return every spring. Peter is assisted by his guardian fairy, Tinker Bell, and in the play he defeats his enemy, the pirate Captain Hook.

---

Etymology

Origin of Peter Pan

C20: after the main character in Peter Pan (1904), a play by J. M. Barrie

Example Sentences

Noah Hawley leaned into the ‘Alien’ franchise’s retro-futurism when making ‘Alien: Earth,’ adding Peter Pan mythology and Easter eggs.

From Los Angeles Times

I read Hans Christian Andersen’s sad and frightening tales; I read the E. Nesbit books, and the usual children’s classics of the time, such as Treasure Island and Peter Pan.

From The Wall Street Journal

But then neither did Peter Pan.

From Los Angeles Times

Over the last decade, Martin has darted through the forest of popular culture like a modern-day Peter Pan, if Peter had been less afraid of growing up and more concerned with what that actually means.

From Los Angeles Times

George Webster will be one of Captain Hook's pirates in The All New Adventures of Peter Pan, at the Royal & Derngate theatre in Northampton over the festive season.

From BBC