adolescent
Other forms: adolescents; adolescently
Adolescent is just a fancy word for teenager — someone who is no longer a child but is not yet an adult. The word can also be used as an adjective. For example, a particular clothing line might be geared toward adolescent girls.
This word refers to all things related to teens — teenagers are adolescent, and the adolescent stage is after puberty and before adulthood. Since adults don't have a high opinion of teenagers, this word is also an insult. Movies full of fart jokes and immature shenanigans are called adolescent. If one adult says to another "You're acting very adolescent" that means "You're acting childish." Adolescent means something close to juvenile, another word that refers to young people and childish people.
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a juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturitytypes:moda British teenager or young adult in the 1960s; noted for their clothes consciousness and opposition to the rockerspachucoa Mexican-American teenager who belongs to a neighborhood gang and who dresses in showy clothespunk, punk rockera teenager or young adult who is a performer (or enthusiast) of punk rock and a member of the punk youth subculturerockera teenager or young adult in the 1960s who wore leather jackets and rode motorcyclestype of:
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in the state of development between puberty and maturity“adolescent boys and girls”synonyms:immaturenot yet mature
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being of the age 13 through 19
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displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity“adolescent insecurity”synonyms: jejune, juvenile, puerile, sophomoricimmaturecharacteristic of a lack of maturity
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relating to or peculiar to or suggestive of an adolescent“adolescent problems”
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Vocabulary lists containing adolescent
Enjoy these words inspired by the "web-headed menace." For the full article, check out The Web-headed Words of Spider-Man.
This list has all the words you need to describe every aspect of youthful inexperience, from the endearing to the annoying. For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.
Stories about wooden forest trolls, a pregnant mummy, and a beloved ballet dancer all contributed words to this list of vocabulary from the week's news.