youth
noun /juːθ/
/juːθ/
(plural youths
/juːðz/
/juːðz/
)- [uncountable] the time of life when a person is young, especially the time before a child becomes an adult
- in somebody's youth He had been a talented musician in his youth.
- She regrets that she spent her youth travelling and not studying.
- to relive/recapture your youth
- He joked that being good at cards was the sign of a misspent youth (= having wasted his time when he was young).
Extra ExamplesTopics Life stagesb1- He played football throughout his youth.
- He started going clubbing in his early youth.
- He wasted his youth in front of a computer screen.
- His lack of qualifications was taken as a sign of a misspent youth.
- I haven't danced since my youth!
- She contracted the disease during her youth.
- She saw it as a chance to relive her misspent youth.
- She spent much of her youth in Hong Kong.
- nostalgia for her lost youth
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- early
- lost
- misspent
- …
- spend
- recapture
- relive
- …
- during your youth
- from youth
- in your youth
- …
- not in the first flush of youth
- [uncountable] the quality or state of being young
- She brings to the job a rare combination of youth and experience.
- His youth gives him an advantage over the other runners.
Extra ExamplesTopics Life stagesb1- Her extreme youth was against her.
- Though no longer in the first flush of youth she's still remarkably energetic.
- You still have your youth—that's the main thing.
- from youth to maturity
- in search of eternal youth
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- comparative
- extreme
- eternal
- …
- have
- the fountain of youth
- (also the youth)[plural] young people considered as a group
- the nation’s youth
- Many people think the youth of today are not taught proper standards of behaviour.
- training for unemployed youth
- an increase in youth unemployment
- contemporary youth culture
- a youth worker (= somebody who works with young people)
- Youth and adults tend to see things very differently.
Extra ExamplesTopics Life stagesb2- the aspirations of modern youth
- youth outreach programs run by the charity
- a program to educate our youth on the causes of health problems
- a crackdown on youth crime
- a club for the gilded youth of London
- The website targets unemployed youth.
- The Royal Family is facing an uncertain future, according to the nation's youth.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- modern
- local
- inner-city
- …
- educate
- target
- corrupt
- …
- culture
- subculture
- centre/center
- …
- the country’s youth
- the nation’s youth
- the youth of today
- …
- [countable] (often disapproving) a young man
- The fight was started by a gang of youths.
Extra ExamplesTopics Life stagesb2- A 17-year-old youth has been arrested.
- She's going out with some spotty youth.
- He was a callow youth when he joined the newspaper.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- male
- black
- white
- …
- gang
- group
Word OriginOld English geoguth, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch jeugd, German Jugend, also to young.