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Glite Dictionary
🧑‍🦱 Going through puberty 🌿 Covered with hairs
pubescent

pubescent

7.7
Covered with soft fine hairs like down
  • adjective
  • /pjuˈbɛsənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pubescente
  • The young tree had pubescent leaves that were soft to the touch.

Examples

  • What I find a bit offensive about your comment is how you imply women without prominent curves look pubescent.

    Blog text (19)

  • The pubescent stage of the plant was marked by fine, soft hairs covering the stems.

  • The flower buds were pubescent, giving them a fuzzy appearance before they opened.

Synonyms

hairy
vspubescent
134 1.0

Having a lot of hair on the body or surface

is about fine soft hairs or down rather than heavy coarse covering
downy
vspubescent
4 4.2

Soft and having many fine, light hairs or feathers

is like this but applies to general fine hairs, not fluffy feathers
puberulent
vspubescent
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant surface that has fine, short, soft hairs

is the broad term for surfaces covered with fine soft hairs or down
sericeous
vspubescent
  • Specialized
9.9

A surface with fine soft hairs that look like silk

is similar but without the specific silky texture
fuzzed
vspubescent
5.9

With a surface covered in fine soft hairs

is about fine soft hairs without a notably fluffy layer

How Hairy

hairy
134 1.0
pubescent
  • Specialized
7.7
puberulent
  • Specialized
9.9
glabrous
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

pubescent positive

Morphology

pubescent = pubes (semi-transparent) = pubes + ent

The connection to 'pubes' is clear, but the specific botanical meaning of being covered with fine hairs is not a standard derivation.

Etymology

Pubescent for plants and animals comes from the same root pub- as puberty, which is about growing body hair. So pubescent means 'covered with soft hairs', like a young leaf that is just 'becoming hairy'.