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Glite Dictionary
🐛 A young organism 🐸 Not fully grown
preadult

preadult

1 6.0
Not fully grown and still in an early life stage
  • adjective
  • /priˈædʌlt/
: 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
12 3.0

Not fully grown, like a young plant or animal

focuses on the specific stage before adulthood, not general underdevelopment
subadult
vspreadult
1 6.8

Not fully grown but almost mature

describes simply not yet reached adulthood without implying near maturity
nonadult
vspreadult
1 5.6

Not yet fully grown or mature

describes the stage before full adulthood

Antonyms

adult
∞ 1.0

A person who is fully grown and no longer a child

How Mature

adult
∞ 1.0
preadult
1 6.0
immature
12 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.