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adolescent

adolescent

67 3.4
Relating to the teenage years between childhood and adulthood
  • adjective
  • /ˌæd.əˈlɛs.ənt/
: adolescente
  • During the adolescent years, teenagers often struggle with their identities as they transition to adulthood.
  • adolescent health
  • adolescent development
  • adolescent behavior

And by the time you hit your late adolescent years, it sort of stabilizes for a bit.

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Examples

  • Lindh's parents' marriage had serious problems throughout his adolescent years and ended in a divorce in 1999.

    Academic text (2013)
  • He had a difficult adolescent period.

  • - It's common in adolescent boys.

  • Considering all this, how do the parents of adolescent drug users explain the situation?

    Academic text (2008)
  • The study was guided by two questions: How do adolescent female choir students experience voice change?

    Academic text (2015)
  • Few studies have been done on relationships between adolescent online gaming and life satisfaction.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Despite the vast amount of research on parenting behavior and adolescent adjustment, several questions remain.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Based on the above findings, the following hypotheses about adolescent Internet behavior are proposed.

    Academic text (2008)
  • What steps are choral directors taking toward meeting the needs of adolescent female singers experiencing voice change?

    Academic text (2015)
  • We have fewer resources for mental health trusts, fewer mental health nurses, fewer child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Synonyms

teenage
vsadolescent
419 1.0

Relating to people aged 13 to 19

emphasizes the stage of development rather than just age
teen
vsadolescent
309 1.0

For people aged 13 to 19

focuses on the stage between childhood and adulthood rather than the person
teenaged
vsadolescent
20 1.0

About people who are 13 to 19 years old

refers to the developmental stage between childhood and adulthood

How Young

newborn
9 1.1
infant
320 1.0
small
156 1.0
young
∞ 1.0
adolescent
67 3.4
mature
93 3.4

Surface Forms

adolescent positive

Morphology

adolescent = adolescence (transparent) = adolesc + ent

The adjective is directly related to the noun 'adolescence' with the productive adjectival suffix '-ent', so learners who know 'adolescence' will readily infer the adjective.

Etymology

Adolescent as an adjective comes from the old Latin adolescere 'to grow up', so it describes the time of growing into an adult, like the teenage years.