grown-up
125
3.5
- adjective
- /ˈɡroʊnˌʌp/
:
maduro
- She handled the situation like a grown-up, communicating clearly and respectfully.
Like he's doing a very grown up thing, you know?
- Like he's doing a very grown up thing, you know?
- I mean, look, these kids ain't grown up fighting like we did.
- So it's like everyone is so grown up.
- But it's hard for Ted Cruz to make a case that he's a real grown up when his website, and this is completely real.
- They're so grown up, they don't give you that same wow factor and that's why I like them.
Examples
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But it seemed that the right thing to do, the grown-up thing, was to look at her father.
Fiction book (1993) -
And the mature thing to do, the grown up thing to do, is to accept these limits.
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That feels very grown up in a good way.
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It's fair to say it's more grown up, isn't it?
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Like he's doing a very grown up thing, you know?
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I can't get over how grown up you are.
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He looks so grown up.
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Let's have a, a much more grown up debate about it rather than just reacting to things.
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They're doing something pretty grown up, quite mature, quite challenging.
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I don't think that becoming a grown-up means losing your sense of playfulness.
Academic text (1997)
Synonyms
Antonyms
How Mature
Surface Forms
Morphology
grown-up = grown (semi-transparent) = up + grown
The components are clear, but the specific meaning of 'behaving in a mature manner' is not directly derivable. [Postprocessing: moved 'up' from base_words to prefix]
Etymology
Grown-up comes from the simple words grow and up, which mean 'to grow' and 'up', so imagine a child who has grown to full size. So, a grown-up person is expected to act mature and responsible.