pubescent

[pyoo-bes-uhnt]

adjective

1. arriving or arrived at puberty.

2. Botany, Zoology.,  covered with down or fine short hair.

pubescent

/ pjuːˈbɛsənt /

adjective

1. arriving or having arrived at puberty

2. (of certain plants and animals or their parts) covered with a layer of fine short hairs or down

Other Word Forms

• pubescence noun
• pubescency noun
• subpubescent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pubescent¹

1640–50; < Latin pūbēscent- (stem of pūbēscēns ), present participle of pūbēscere to attain puberty, reach puberty, become hairy or downy. See pubes ¹, -escent

Word History and Origins

Origin of pubescent¹

C17: from Latin pūbēscere to reach manhood, from pūber adult

Example Sentences

The video, Stockton argued, fails to include a sex education component and instead offers "misleading" context in an effort to teach pubescent children that a fetus is a human life.

Read more on Salon

A pubescent Usher temporarily lost his voice after recording the first album, pushing him to focus on honing his dance skills and stage presence.

Read more on New York Times

My pubescent nerves did a pirouette in my stomach as we hung up, retreating to the haven of instant messages.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

To the moody strains of Sheik’s alt-rock score, the vise of adolescence is captured in a story about pubescent youths rebelling against the warping will of adult hypocrisy and repression.

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All these form an enormous playground where monumental things happen at inopportune times, each song a zoetrope world built for consoling and commiserating with the pains of being pubescent.

Read more on Washington Post

Related Words

• adolescent 
• boyish 
• childish 
• childlike 
• enthusiastic 
• girlish 
• inexperienced 
• underage 
• young