1
as in young
being in the early stage of life, growth, or development
an adolescent sheepdog, who hasn't quite gotten the hang of keeping the sheep huddled together
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in childish
having or showing the annoying qualities (as silliness) associated with children
would hope that the college students had outgrown such adolescent behavior
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3
as in immature
lacking in adult experience or maturity
took a group of adolescent recruits and turned them into professional warriors
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of adolescent
Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 1 Jan. 2026
And if parents don't understand all the risks and benefits, parents and kids can research that together, suggests psychologist Jacqueline Nesi at Brown University, who was involved in the American Psychological Association's recent health advisory on AI and adolescent health.
—Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, 29 Dec. 2025
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 6 Oct. 2025
Twenge has spent much of the past decade warning parents about the risks of giving young adolescents unlimited access to smartphones and social media.
—Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adolescent
Adjective
In November, the European Parliament urged the EU to set minimum social media ages to tackle adolescent mental health issues, though final decisions rest with its member states, Reuters reported.
—Noun
Children and adolescents aged 2 to 18, without other high-risk factors like immunosuppression, can receive and should be offered the vaccine if they were not previously immunized, according to the guidance.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for adolescent
Adjective
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Both the barn owl and the center’s 14-year-old eastern screech owl were rescued as young animals.—
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That is a recipe for political disruption that defies classic lines between Republicans and Democrats and between conservatives and liberals − particularly among younger voters who have less history with and allegiance to either party.—
Adjective
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The brand is seeing an upswing post-pandemic, as these childish styles, long favored in Asia-Pacific countries like Japan and South Korea, become increasingly popular in China and the West.—
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She’s fallen under the sway of a fashionable worldview in which logic is paramount, and the realm of emotion and magic and even dæmons is just childish fancy.—
Adjective
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Its audience, once immature teenagers, is now made up of immature middle-aged people — plus a whole lot of new immature teenagers.—
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The bacterial illness, called infant botulism, occurs when babies ingest spores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which can grow in their immature digestive systems and produce toxin.—
Noun
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Police said the group of seven juveniles and two 18-year-olds first hit Monterey Trail High School in the 8600 block of Power Inn Road, forcibly taking jewelry from at least one person before fleeing the campus.—
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According to the complaint, the two men and one of the juveniles practiced shooting at gun ranges in September and October.—
Adjective
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Bi modelled the monster after the way fetuses look on ultrasounds, at once aged and infantile, and had his designers make the Deliriant hunched over, bearing a tortoise-like shell on his back.—
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The program is the legacy of Dr. Stephen Arnon, chief of the Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program at the California health department, who dedicated his life to finding a treatment for infantile botulism.—
Adjective
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Jokic didn’t overtake Jamal Murray as Denver’s leading scorer until their seventh game of the season, after a 33-point performance Wednesday against a Miami Heat frontcourt that was woefully undersized and inexperienced the instant Bam Adebayo exited with a foot injury.—
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Henderson has struggled in that role as a rookie, and Jennings is inexperienced at the pro level.—
Noun
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Damon Leonard, 47, also from Pleasanton, Kansas, faces abandonment of a corpse charges in Bates County relating to the teenager’s death.—
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When a Black teenager is executed by police on Juneteenth and no evidence remains to contest the official account, CYCLE reveals the widening rift between what the system claims and what a mother’s relentless pursuit of truth exposes.—
Noun
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If packing your kids’ lunch for school was an Olympic sport, my mother would have been a gold medalist every year.—
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This can be as simple as displaying your kids' art on the fridge or as involved as involving your partner in paint choices.—
Cite this Entry
“Adolescent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adolescent. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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