Adolescent is used to describe young people who are no longer children but who have not yet become adults. It also refers to their behaviour.
It is important that an adolescent boy should have an adult in whom he can confide.
He spent his adolescent years playing guitar in the church band.
...adolescent rebellion.
Synonyms: immature, young, teen [informal], juvenile More Synonyms of adolescent
An adolescent is an adolescent boy or girl.
Young adolescents are happiest with small groups of close friends.
More Synonyms of adolescent
adolescent in British English
(ˌædəˈlɛsənt)
adjective
1.
of or relating to adolescence
2. informal
behaving in an immature way; puerile
noun
3.
an adolescent person
adolescent in American English
(ˌædəˈlɛsənt)
adjective
1.
developing from childhood to maturity; growing up
2.
of or characteristic of adolescence; youthful, exuberant, immature, unsettled, etc.
noun
3.
a boy or a girl from puberty to adulthood; teenage person
SIMILAR WORDS: young
Word origin
Fr < L adolescens, prp. of adolescere, to come to maturity, be kindled, burn < *adalescere < ad-, to + alescere, to increase, grow up < alere, to feed, sustain; akin to OE ald (see old), Goth alan, to grow
Examples of 'adolescent' in a sentence
adolescent
Young adolescents who are trying their new intellectual wings need a safe place in which to practice.
Steinberg, Laurence & Levine, Ann You and Your Adolescent: A Parents' Guide for Ages 10 to 20 (1990)
Who provides help and counselling in the area of adolescent behaviour will vary from culture to culture.
Siann, Gerda & Ugwuegbu, Denis C. E. Educational Psychology in a Changing World (1988)
There are many hurdles that face adolescents and adults in their efforts to enjoy life.
Austin, Valerie Self-Hypnosis (1994)
Young adolescents are happiest with small groups of close friends.
Steinberg, Laurence & Levine, Ann You and Your Adolescent: A Parents' Guide for Ages 10 to 20 (1990)
The problem is that many of the listed signs and symptoms are normal aspects of adolescent behaviour.
Cohen, Julian & Kay, James Taking Drugs Seriously (1994)
The adolescents also reported their most positive emotions with their friends.
Larson, Reed & Richards, Maryse H. Divergent Realities: the Emotional Lives of Mothers, Fathers, and Adolescents (1994)
The transition from adolescent actor to adult lead is a notoriously difficult one.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Try to impress on the young adolescent that reading is a source of information.
Steinberg, Laurence & Levine, Ann You and Your Adolescent: A Parents' Guide for Ages 10 to 20 (1990)
Consequently it should be clear that individual adolescent behaviour should only be considered within a social and cultural context.
Siann, Gerda & Ugwuegbu, Denis C. E. Educational Psychology in a Changing World (1988)
He has found that many soldiers were so young at the time that they still had adolescent views of right and wrong.
Claudia Hammond EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER: A Journey Through the Science of Feelings (2005)
Likewise, your adolescent may become close with one of your friends.
Steinberg, Laurence & Levine, Ann You and Your Adolescent: A Parents' Guide for Ages 10 to 20 (1990)
Your adolescent son groans "No way.
Steinberg, Laurence & Levine, Ann You and Your Adolescent: A Parents' Guide for Ages 10 to 20 (1990)
In many ways, we were still adolescents.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Which could, obviously, be socially mortifying for her adolescent sons.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
adolescent
British English: adolescent /ˌædəˈlɛsnt/ NOUN
An adolescent is a young person who is no longer a child but who has not yet become an adult.
Young adolescents are happiest with small groups of close friends.
American English: adolescent
Arabic: مُراهِق
Brazilian Portuguese: adolescente
Chinese: 青少年
Croatian: adolescent
Czech: mladistvý
Danish: teenager
Dutch: puber
European Spanish: adolescente
Finnish: murrosikäinen
French: adolescent
German: Jugendlicher
Greek: έφηβος
Italian: adolescente
Japanese: 若者
Korean: 청소년
Norwegian: ungdom
Polish: nastolatek
European Portuguese: adolescente
Romanian: adolescent
Russian: юноша
Latin American Spanish: adolescente
Swedish: ungdom
Thai: วัยรุ่น
Turkish: ergen
Ukrainian: підліток
Vietnamese: thiếu niên
British English: adolescent ADJECTIVE
Adolescent is used to describe young people who are no longer children but who have not yet become adults.
It is important that an adolescent boy should have an adult in whom he can confide.
American English: adolescent
Brazilian Portuguese: adolescente
Chinese: 青春期的 >少年、行为
European Spanish: adolescente
French: adolescent
German: heranwachsend
Italian: adolescente
Japanese: 思春期の
Korean: 사춘기의
European Portuguese: adolescente
Latin American Spanish: adolescente
Chinese translation of 'adolescent'
adolescent
(ædəuˈlɛsnt)
adj
青春期的 (qīngchūnqī de)
n(c)
(= teenager) 青少年 (qīngshàonián) (个(個), gè)
1 (adjective)
Definition
of or relating to adolescence
her adolescent years
Synonyms
young
growing
junior
teenage
She had fond memories of being a teenage girl.
juvenile
youthful
childish
I've never seen such selfish and childish behaviour.
immature
You're just being childish and immature.
boyish
He has a boyish enthusiasm for life.
undeveloped
girlish
a little girlish giggle
puerile
puerile schoolboy humour
in the springtime of life
2 (adjective)
Definition
(of behaviour) immature
An adolescent should have an adult in whom they can confide.
Synonyms
immature
The birds were in immature plumage.
young
I was still too young to understand what was going on.
teen (informal)
juvenile
a scheme to rehibilitate persistent juvenile offenders
youthful
youthful enthusiasm and high spirits
(noun)
Definition
an adolescent person
Adolescents are happiest with small groups of close friends.
Synonyms
teenager
As a teenager he attended the local high school.
girl
boy
I knew him when he was just a little boy.
kid (informal)
All the kids in my class could read.
youth
gangs of youths who broke windows and looted shops
lad
a lad of his age
minor
The approach has virtually ended cigarette sales to minors.
young man
youngster
Other youngsters are not so lucky.
young woman
juvenile
The number of juveniles in the general population has fallen.
young person
lass
She's a Lancashire lass from Longton, near Preston.
young adult
Additional synonyms
in the sense of boy
Definition
a male child
I knew him when he was just a little boy.
Synonyms
lad,
kid (informal),
youth,
fellow (old-fashioned),
youngster,
chap (informal),
schoolboy,
junior,
laddie (Scottish),
stripling
in the sense of boyish
He has a boyish enthusiasm for life.
Synonyms
youthful,
young,
innocent,
adolescent,
juvenile,
childish,
immature,
green,
childlike
in the sense of childish
Definition
immature or silly
I've never seen such selfish and childish behaviour.