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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

In 1993, he was made a member of the Order of Australia for his role as a youth advocate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1993, in recognition of service to the community, particularly his charity work and his work as a youth advocate.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Pruett, who gave birth to Landers’ father, Corky, at 15, had a tough and impoverished youth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

For years, Silicon Valley has drawn scrutiny from civil society and global regulators over tangible harms such as youth mental health deterioration and systematic privacy violations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

“Agent Magnus,” asks Lucy, “I presume you’re taking Trainee Peters to the youth dormitories?”

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

The hit writer, producer and actress mulled over the idea for Youth before going on to make Apple TV's Bad Sisters, coming back to it after the dark comedy ended.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Now, with her latest show Youth, Horgan puts the spotlight on 50-something women, imbued with her trademark tightly balanced mix of hilarity and pathos.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The Hindenburg lifted off shortly after 7 p.m., saluted by a brass band playing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and cheered by a large crowd, including a Hitler Youth troop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The youth parliament is run by the National Youth Agency, but was previously under the British Youth Council which closed amid financial challenges in 2024.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

In many cases, the SS appointed Hitler Youth as Volkssturm leaders, thus giving teenagers the responsibility of training men old enough to be their fathers and grandfathers.

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

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

"That, of course, is what makes them so attractive for young people, especially for youths living in rural areas," said Enrico Wedekind, a curator at Berlin's DDR Museum who for years rode a Simson himself.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Cleveland Police said a total of 27 people have been arrested since the crash on the A66 on 22 August which killed the two officers and five youths.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Twitch is a major livestreaming platform that is especially popular among gamers and youths.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

There was nothing in that direction but broken pavement, strewn with weeds and trash the Bear Clan Patrol didn’t let the youths clean up.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• minority
• teens