underage

¹ American  

[uhn-der-ij] / ˈʌn dər ɪdʒ /

noun

1. shortage; deficiency in amount.

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underage ² American  

[uhn-der-eyj] / ˌʌn dərˈeɪdʒ /

adjective

1. lacking the required age, especially that of legal maturity.

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underage British  

/ ˌʌndərˈeɪdʒ /

adjective

1. below the required or standard age, esp below the legal age for voting or drinking

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Etymology

Origin of underage¹

First recorded in 1605–15; under- + -age

Origin of underage¹

First recorded in 1585–95; under- + age

Example Sentences

A spokesperson for Trading Standards said it was working with public health teams to tackle "the rise in underage vaping in Nottingham".

From BBC

“It was a big deal. I mean just think about it, you’re gonna have a bunch of underage teenagers come to a concert? All kinds of things can go wrong.”

From Los Angeles Times

She was posting dance routines on TikTok with her 10-year-old sister roughly two weeks ago when the platform detected an underage user, he said, and the account was immediately suspended.

From The Wall Street Journal

Many of the social media firms affected have spent a year loudly protesting against the new law, which requires them to take "reasonable steps" to keep underage users from having accounts on their platforms.

From BBC

For example, the accuracy of face scans – already rolled out by Meta and Snapchat for suspected underage users – falters for people two to three years either side of 16; the intended target.

From BBC

Related Words

• adolescent