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• youth
  youth

  noun

  the condition of being young.
• Youth
  Youth

  noun

  Isle of Youth an island in the Caribbean, a special municipality in southern Cuba. 1,182 sq. mi. (3,060 sq. km).

youth

¹ American  

[yooth] / juθ /

noun

• youths,
  plural
• youth
  plural

1. the condition of being young.

   Antonyms:

   maturity

2. the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc., characteristic of one who is young.

3. the time of being young; early life.

   His youth was spent on the farm.

   Synonyms:

   immaturity, minority

   Antonyms:

   maturity

4. the period of life from puberty to the attainment of full growth; adolescence.

5. the first or early period of anything.

   The business, even in its youth, showed great potential.

6. young persons collectively.

7. a young person, especially a young man or male adolescent.

   Synonyms:

   boy, lad, stripling, adolescent, teenager, youngster

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Youth ² American  

[yooth] / juθ /

noun

1. Isle of Youth an island in the Caribbean, a special municipality in southern Cuba. 1,182 sq. mi. (3,060 sq. km).

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youth ¹ British  

/ juːθ /

noun

1. the quality or condition of being young, immature, or inexperienced

   his youth told against him in the contest

2. the period between childhood and maturity, esp adolescence and early adulthood

3. the freshness, vigour, or vitality characteristic of young people

   youth shone out from her face

4. any period of early development

   the project was in its youth

5. a young person, esp a young man or boy

6. young people collectively

   youth everywhere is rising in revolt

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Youth ² British  

/ juːθ /

noun

1. Spanish name: Isla de la Juventud. Former name: Isle of Pines. an island in the NW Caribbean, south of Cuba: administratively part of Cuba from 1925. Chief town: Nueva Gerona. Pop: 80 600 (2002 est). Area: 3061 sq km (1182 sq miles)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• youthless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• youth
  plural
• youths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of youth

First recorded before 900; Middle English youthe, Old English geoguth; cognate with Dutch jeugd, German Jugend

Explanation

If you're not a little kid anymore, but you're not really an adult yet, you can describe this period of your life as your youth. You can use the noun youth in several ways — you might refer to a kid as a youth, describe the group of teenagers hanging out downtown as youth, or talk about the time in your life when you were young and carefree as your youth. In all cases, youth comes from the Old English geoguth, which is closely related to the root of young: geong.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

youth Youth youths

Three years on, the party’s youth wing endorsed another such protest for this Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Angelina Jolie, a producer on ‘The Outsiders,’ and Octavia Spencer, a longtime City Year advocate, teamed up to support youth access to theater tickets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

When a six-year-old Harry Kane arrived for trials with Ridgeway Rovers in 1999, the youth side - who a generation earlier had produced David Beckham - thought they had found themselves a new goalkeeper.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

He co-founded Sunrise Movement, a youth climate-change initiative a decade ago.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

A former policeman and carpenter who in his youth had gained unlikely fame as a “rock dancer,” who delighted people with his “twist” performances, Saemi would do anything for a friend.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Tom Siegel, the executive director of the Youth AI Safety Institute, said the group stands by its methodology and results.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Common Sense Media’s Youth AI Safety Institute rated ChatGPT for Teens an “Unacceptable Risk” for children under 18 in a study published Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Jess Asato, Labour MP for Lowestoft, said she believed the decision had been made because the Youth Parliament was not producing "a diversity of voices".

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Another youth-led group in that district, Maine Youth Power, started in 2021 to offer young Mainers clearer paths to engagement in a state with one of the highest median ages.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

The Nazi Party pressured teachers for 100 percent Hitler Youth membership, and the teachers, in turn, pressured the students to join.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

He also did volunteer work at the Los Angeles International Dream Center, where he was welcomed warmly by the poor families and troubled youths who sought a fresh start there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Among the culprits: owners letting their land, the youths delivering the fuel to run the mining machinery, but also "certain officials" in both Ivory Coast and abroad financing illegal mines to reap the profits.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., he has been connected to numerous children’s hospitals, the Starlight Children’s Foundation, as well as the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Canteen, a support organization for youths with cancer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

States provide the shots for youths through the Vaccines for Children program and for uninsured or underinsured adults through a different government program.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

He fell silent, wary of the maids and youths who stood near us, bantering.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• minority
• teens