beyond one's years
11
6.5
- idiom
:
maduro para su edad
- As for this poor girl, she was wise beyond her years for knowing what to do to stay alive.
- wise beyond her years
- mature beyond his years
- wisdom beyond your years
Examples
-
The king had a young son who had already proved himself to be wise and clever beyond his years.
Fiction book (1999) -
My daughter speaks with a wisdom beyond her years.
-
It's moving to me, the children that are wise beyond their years like that.
-
You were always wise beyond your years.
-
"You are charming and wise beyond your years."
-
At seventeen, she was responsible beyond her years.
Fiction book (1992) -
Taylor has her own morals and goals and is mature beyond her years.
Blog text (23) -
You're so intelligent and sensitive, like wise beyond your years.
-
Helen demonstrates wisdom beyond her years in part by her effective employment of proverbs.
Academic text (2005) -
Prince is incredibly talented and wise beyond his years for someone his age.
Synonyms
199
3.3
Behaving like an adult and thinking sensibly
Antonyms
How Mature
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'beyond' (further than) with 'one's years' (someone's age), so the sense of exceeding the typical qualities associated with that age (e.g., maturity, experience) is directly inferable from the parts. This compositional metaphor is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words is likely to understand the meaning.
Etymology
Beyond one's years comes from the image of someone being beyond their years, as if they are already past the age they are, like a child who talks and acts like an adult. That's why it means 'more mature or wise than people expect for their age'.