teen
adjective
teen
1 American
[teen]
/ tin /
adjective
noun
teen
2
American
[teen]
/ tin /
noun
-
Archaic. suffering; grief.
-
Obsolete. injury; harm.
-teen
3
American
-teen
1
British
combining form
teen
2
British
/ tiːn /
adjective
teen
3
British
/ tiːn /
noun
Usage
What does -teen mean? The suffix -teen means “ten.” It is used to form cardinal numbers from 13 to 19. The form -teen comes from Old English -tēne, meaning “ten.” The Latin cognate of -tēne is -decim, from decem, also meaning “ten.” Find out how dozen is related to the combining form -decim at our entry for the word.
Etymology
Origin of teen1
First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening
Origin of teen2
before 1000; Middle English tene, Old English tēona; cognate with Old Frisian tiona, Old Saxon tiono, Old Norse tjōn
Origin of -teen3
Middle English, Old English -tēne, combining form of ten; cognate with Dutch -tien, German -zehn
Explanation
Are you between the ages of 13 and 19? If so, you're a teen! Teen is a less-formal way to say teenager. You can use this informal word as a noun or an adjective, so you might talk about teen literature, teen rebellion, teen movies, or teen romance—anything that has to do with teenagers. If you're 11, you may be eagerly anticipating your teen years; if you happen to be 37, you certainly remember being a teen, either fondly or not. The teen years are also known as adolescence.
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.
Two of the lawyers for Joshua, now 16, at the Law Brothers denied an interview request for the teen and his guardian, citing privacy and his ongoing recovery.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026
Yes, there are love triangles, "mean teens" and scandals, he said, but the show is missing the "sheer sharpness of the movie", making it "an unusually sluggish teen drama".
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Travers also criticised the plot for focusing on "tired teen drama, a pathetic love triangle and a lazy mystery".
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Foxx and his 17 year-old daughter, Anelise, performed the intro to Kehlani’s song “Folded,” with the teen playing some seriously impressive guitar.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026
The blue bookcase on the bottom holds my favorite books that I could never get myself to purge when I did my monthly book donations to the teen health clinic down the block.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
