adolescent
noun
ad·o·les·cent
| \ ˌa-də-ˈle-sᵊnt
\
\
Definition of adolescent
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a young person who is developing into an adult : one who is in the state of adolescence
adolescent
adjectiveDefinition of adolescent (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: of, relating to, or being in adolescence
adolescent growth adolescent boys and girls
2
: emotionally or intellectually immature
did not appreciate her husband's adolescent high jinks
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Synonyms & Antonyms for adolescent
Synonyms: Adjective
immature, juvenile, young, youngish, youthful
Antonyms: Adjective
adult, grown-up, mature, matured
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Examples of adolescent in a Sentence
Noun
Their children are now adolescents.Adjective
an adolescent sheepdog, who hasn't quite gotten the hang of keeping the sheep huddled together would hope that the college students had outgrown such adolescent behavior
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Texas has approximately 79,000 child and adolescent trafficking survivors, according to a report from the Statewide Human Trafficking Mapping Project of Texas. — Tracy Maness, Houston Chronicle, "$15 million to help Texas child trafficking survivors," 4 Sep. 2019 Most participants came from the U.K. Biobank study, which involves adults ages 40 to 70, though the paper also included some young adults and adolescents participating in other studies. — Jamie Ducharme, Time, "There's No Such Thing As a 'Gay Gene,' a New Study Argues," 29 Aug. 2019 One person even recalled how doing this as an adolescent wreaked havoc. — Kaleigh Fasanella, Teen Vogue, "Bella Thorne Shared How She Treats Acne Scars," 29 Aug. 2019 In the survey, between 17,000 and 20,000 adolescents each year were asked whether or not they were exposed to vapors from e-cigarettes or smoke from traditional cigarettes in the previous 30 days. — Kate Thayer, chicagotribune.com, "More bad news about vaping: Teens increasingly are breathing in secondhand e-cigarette vapors, report says," 28 Aug. 2019 In the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, researchers surveyed almost 50,000 adolescents in Arizona. — Linda Carroll, NBC News, "Teens who use concentrated marijuana more likely to use other drugs," 26 Aug. 2019 This month, Nock's team began to recruit adolescents to the study and has added parent check-ins to the safety measures for those participants. — Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, "Suicide attempts are hard to anticipate. A study that tracks teens’ cellphone use aims to change that," 21 Aug. 2019 At its best, the movie, a jury prize winner at this year’s Sundance, offers empathetic understanding of all the lonely adolescents aching to be both heard and understood. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: ‘Jawline’ examines the fleeting fame of live streams," 21 Aug. 2019 The next high-risk group is adolescents 15 to 19 years of age. — Amy Haneline, USA TODAY, "Drowning tragedies can happen to anyone. Here's what parents need to know," 2 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Even Jennifer Capriati, a three-time Slam winner and a former world No. 1, only achieved success after a long struggle with the pressure of adolescent fame. — Stanley Kay, SI.com, "Naomi Osaka–Coco Gauff U.S. Open Showdown Preludes Exciting Future of Tennis," 1 Sep. 2019 The book later describes Takei’s impassioned adolescent debate with his father, who tries to persuade him that President Franklin Roosevelt, who authorized their captivity, was a fundamentally good man who had made one terrible mistake. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: George Takei’s ‘They Called Us Enemy’ shows injustice through a child’s eyes," 30 Aug. 2019 Intense relationships between an adult male teacher and an adolescent pupil could often develop. — Raquel López, National Geographic, "Did sons and daughters get the same education in ancient Greece?," 28 Aug. 2019 In addition, it is also being reported that Mr. Barris is requesting joint custody of the couple’s four adolescent children: Lola, 13, Beau, 11, Kass, 9 and Bronx, 3. — Jasmine Grant, Essence, "'Black-ish' Creator Kenya Barris and His Wife Raina Barris Headed For Divorce," 13 Aug. 2019 There's more than stigma involved, says Ana Radovic, a specialist in adolescent medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. — Jill U. Adams, chicagotribune.com, "Finding treatment for depressed teens isn't easy," 3 Apr. 2018 There’s more than stigma involved, says Ana Radovic, a specialist in adolescent medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. — Jill U. Adams, Washington Post, "Regular screening can find teen depression, but getting treatment isn’t easy," 31 Mar. 2018 The school of profitable rhymes As an adolescent obsessed with rap music, Trajik befriended record store clerks who sold albums to him before their official release dates. — David Lindquist, Indianapolis Star, "He's taking the stairs, not the elevator, but Indianapolis rapper Trajik just keeps rising," 22 Aug. 2019 Its young-adolescent characters are all played by adult actors. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Diego premiere of Clare Barron’s ‘Dance Nation’ launches Moxie Theatre’s 15th-anniversary season," 21 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adolescent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for adolescent
adolescent
noun
ad·o·les·cent
| \ ˌa-də-ˈle-sᵊnt
\
\
Kids Definition of adolescent
: a person who is no longer a child but not yet an adult
adolescent
noun
ad·o·les·cent
| \ -ᵊnt
\
\
Medical Definition of adolescent
(Entry 1 of 2)
: one that is in the state of adolescence
adolescent
adjectiveMedical Definition of adolescent (Entry 2 of 2)
: of, relating to, or being in adolescence