pubescent
Americanadjective
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arriving or arrived at puberty.
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Botany, Zoology. covered with down or fine short hair.
adjective
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arriving or having arrived at puberty
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(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
Etymology
Origin of pubescent
1640–50; < Latin pūbēscent- (stem of pūbēscēns ), present participle of pūbēscere to attain puberty, reach puberty, become hairy or downy. See pubes 1, -escent
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.
A pubescent Usher temporarily lost his voice after recording the first album, pushing him to focus on honing his dance skills and stage presence.
From New York Times
My pubescent nerves did a pirouette in my stomach as we hung up, retreating to the haven of instant messages.
From 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.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
From Washington Post
The teenagers are the focus, but they're also pubescent versions of the Boomers watching at home, enabling parents to make the case to their kids, and themselves, that they used to be edgy.
From Salon
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.
