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Glite Dictionary
🐛 A young organism 🐸 Not fully grown
preadult

preadult

6.0
Not fully grown and still in an early life stage
  • adjective
  • /priˈædʌlt/
translation icon : preadulto
  • The preadult larvae reach the small arteries on the serosal surface of the large intestine and terminal small intestine.

Examples

  • Many preadult children exhibit a strong curiosity about the world around them.

  • Because I did not have data on preadult socialization, I could not directly test for the impact of earlier socialization agents on party loyalty.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The preadult stage of a butterfly is crucial for its development into a beautiful adult.

  • At the preadult age, kids often start to develop their personal interests and hobbies.

Synonyms

immature
vspreadult
15 3.0

Not fully grown, like a young plant or animal

focuses on the specific stage before adulthood, not general underdevelopment
nonadult
vspreadult
5.6

Not yet fully grown or mature

describes the stage before full adulthood
subadult
vspreadult
6.8

Not fully grown but almost mature

describes simply not yet reached adulthood without implying near maturity

Antonyms

adult
∞ 1.0

A person who is fully grown and no longer a child

How Mature

adult
∞ 1.0
preadult
6.0
immature
15 3.0

Surface Forms

preadult positive

Morphology

preadult = adult (transparent) = pre + adult

The meaning is directly formed by adding 'pre-' to 'adult' to mean 'before adult' or 'not yet adult'.

Etymology

Preadult joins pre- ('before') and adult, so it describes something 'before' adulthood. It is a simple way to say that a frog, bird, or insect is still young and not yet an adult.