young
adjective
being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old.
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young
1 American
[yuhng]
/ jʌŋ /
adjective
-
younger,
comparative
-
youngest
superlative
-
being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old.
a young woman.
- Synonyms:
- growing
-
having the appearance, freshness, vigor, or other qualities of youth.
-
of or relating to youth.
in one's young days.
-
inexperienced or immature.
-
not far advanced in years in comparison with another or others.
-
junior, as applied to the younger of two persons having the same name.
the young Mr. Smith.
-
being in an early stage generally, as of existence, progress, operation, development, or maturity; new; early.
a young wine; It is a young company, not yet firmly established.
-
representing or advocating recent or progressive tendencies, policies, or the like.
noun
-
those who have youth; young persons collectively.
the educated young of today; a game for young and old.
-
young offspring.
a mother hen protecting her young.
idioms
Young
2
American
[yuhng]
/ jʌŋ /
noun
-
Andrew (Jackson, Jr.), born 1932, U.S. clergyman, Black civil rights leader, politician, and diplomat: mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, 1981–89.
-
Art(hur Henry), 1866–1944, U.S. cartoonist and author.
-
Brigham, 1801–77, U.S. leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
-
Charles, 1864–1922, U.S. army colonel: highest-ranking Black officer in World War I.
-
Denton True Cy, 1867–1955, U.S. baseball player.
-
Edward, 1683–1765, English poet.
-
Ella, 1867–1956, Irish poet and mythologist in the U.S.
-
Lester Willis PresPrez, 1909–59, U.S. jazz tenor saxophonist.
-
Owen D., 1874–1962, U.S. lawyer, industrialist, government administrator, and financier.
-
Stark, 1881–1963, U.S. drama critic, novelist, and playwright.
-
Thomas, 1773–1829, English physician, physicist, mathematician, and Egyptologist.
-
Whitney M., Jr., 1921–71, U.S. social worker and educator: executive director of the National Urban League 1961–71.
young
1
British
/ jʌŋ /
adjective
-
-
having lived, existed, or been made or known for a relatively short time
a young man
a young movement
a young country
-
( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the young
-
-
youthful or having qualities associated with youth; vigorous or lively
she's very young for her age
-
of or relating to youth
in my young days
-
having been established or introduced for a relatively short time
a young member
-
in an early stage of progress or development; not far advanced
the day was young
-
geography
-
(of mountains) formed in the Alpine orogeny and still usually rugged in outline
-
another term for youthful
-
-
(often capital) of or relating to a rejuvenated group or movement or one claiming to represent the younger members of the population, esp one adhering to a political ideology
Young England
Young Socialists
noun
-
(functioning as plural) offspring, esp young animals
a rabbit with her young
-
(of animals) pregnant
Young
2
British
/ jʌŋ /
noun
-
Brigham (ˈbrɪɡəm). 1801–77, US Mormon leader, who led the Mormon migration to Utah and founded Salt Lake City (1847)
-
Edward. 1683–1765, English poet and dramatist, noted for his Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (1742–45)
-
Lester. 1909–59, US saxophonist and clarinetist. He was a leading early exponent of the tenor saxophone in jazz
-
Neil ( Percival ). born 1945, Canadian rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His albums include Harvest (1972), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Ragged Glory (1990), and Prairie Wind (2005)
-
Thomas. 1773–1829, English physicist, physician, and Egyptologist. He helped to establish the wave theory of light by his experiments on optical interference and assisted in the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone
Young
Scientific
/ yŭng /
Synonym Usage
Young, youthful, juvenile all refer to lack of age. Young is the general word for that which is undeveloped, immature, and in process of growth: a young colt, child; young shoots of wheat. Youthful has connotations suggesting the favorable characteristics of youth, such as vigor, enthusiasm, and hopefulness: youthful sports, energy, outlook. Juvenile may suggest less desirable characteristics, such as childishness, petulance, idleness, selfishness, or heedlessness ( juvenile behavior ), or it may refer simply to the years, up to the later teens, before legal responsibility: juvenile delinquency; juvenile court; juvenile books.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of young
First recorded before 900; Middle English yong(e), Old English geong; cognate with Dutch jong, German jung, Old Norse ungr, Gothic jungs; akin to Latin juvenis
Explanation
Use the adjective young to describe a person who hasn't been alive very long or doesn't have much life experience. You might feel much wiser and more sophisticated than your young cousins — even if you secretly enjoy playing games with them. As a noun, young generally means "animal babies," like when a mother duck and her young cross the street, though it can also refer collectively to young people: "The young recover so quickly from being sick." When you describe someone as young, you typically mean that they're immature, youthful, or simply not as old as you might expect: "Kids are getting phones so young these days!"
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.
See Examples For:
Excessive caffeine consumption has been linked to headaches and sleep problems, and experts say young people can be more sensitive to caffeine as they have smaller bodies and their brains are still developing.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Opponents of the measure included doctors who said that it is "not backed by clinical guidelines, and would create unwarranted stress and harm for young girls."
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
James has played in 74 games during his young career, including 42 last season when he averaged 2.9 points and 1.2 assists in 8.9 minutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some young people might feel “buyer’s remorse” because they felt pressure to apply early—acceptance rates at many schools are higher during early rounds—and later changed their mind, Homayoun said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The beards of the young women are gone.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
Its title is derived from Shakespeare’s “Othello,” and the show earned Joycean comparisons, including to “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Black Man,” from critics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
Young men and Latino voters -- two segments of the American electorate crucial to Trump -- turned sharply away from the president and his Republican Party, exit polls showed.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
Before attending the couple's home, Wilkins said he had sent two photos of himself, after Young said his wife requested it.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
It also has a head start in Congress, where Republican Sens. Todd Young of Indiana, John Curtis of Utah and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania have already cosponsored federal bills limiting officials’ trading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Young agreed and recommended a highly talented graduate student named George Bass, whom he felt would be most capable of handling the project.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Since coming out of retirement before this season, Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald adopted a humble approach, always allowing younger, less-accomplished players to go ahead of him during drills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Bobby was the younger of the two, but made his Three Lions debut first.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
According to Muhlestein, many people who suffer their first heart attack, particularly younger adults, would not previously have been classified as having enough cardiovascular risk to justify statin treatment.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Born to a British-Jamaican family in Croydon, south London, she has staged shows in offbeat venues such as alleys or climbing gyms, which could appeal to the younger clients Balenciaga hopes to attract.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
He had slipped easily into the part of being a younger brother to Peter— mostly, I think, because he genuinely liked having an older brother of his own, a proper pal.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Their two youngest have middle names for their birthplaces: Maverick Montana and Lola Dakota.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Mugabe, 29, is the youngest son of Robert Mugabe and his second wife, Grace Mugabe.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
At 33, he became the youngest senator for that legislative term.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
Not only had Antonelli held off those world beaters all season, he had also become the youngest world champion in the history of the sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Drawing his last game and coming in sixth, Bobby Fischer became the youngest chess player ever to qualify to play in the Candidates tournament, and the youngest international grandmaster in the history of the game.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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