young adult
Americannoun
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young adults
plural
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a teenager (used especially by publishers and librarians).
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a person in the early years of adulthood.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Lynn Nguyen, Chinatown’s young adult librarian, has taken to delivering groceries door to door since 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Romer grew up in a trailer park in New York but moved to Lafayette, La., as a young adult with her partner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The young adult novel follows Zélie Adebola as she tries to bring magic back to the mythical kingdom of Orïsha after a ruthless king wiped it out.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
McElwee’s last documentary, 2011’s “Photographic Memory,” saw Adrian as a young adult, trying to come into his own and figure out his place in life amid a shifting social landscape riddled with digital black holes.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
But she said that growing up and as a young adult, she never had a dentist to go to, so she had done her best.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
