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# adolescent

«adolescent» in Mova's school dictionary: **a young person who is growing from a child into an adult…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (an adolescent, adolescents); adjective (adolescent)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An adolescent is a young person who is growing from a child into an adult, usually aged about 12 to 18; a teenager. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#m1)

2) Adolescent means to do with this time of life. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#m2)

3) (disapproving) Adolescent can describe behaviour that is silly or immature, like a teenager showing off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In health and PSHE lessons it comes with puberty and growing up; doctors and books for parents use it. It tells the reader someone is no longer a little child but not yet an adult. Phrases: «adolescent years», «adolescent health», «adolescent behaviour».

### examples

- An adolescent's body changes a lot during puberty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#x1)
- My big sister is an adolescent now, and she wants more privacy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#x2)
- The library has a section for adolescent readers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#x3)
- Adolescents need plenty of sleep. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#x4)
- The book is about the adolescent years of a famous scientist. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#x5)
- Throwing food was a bit adolescent, Dad said. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/#x6)

### note

Use «an»: an adolescent. Noun for the time of life: «adolescence». More formal than «teenager», «teen», «young person». Not a rude word in its main sense.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «adolescent» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/adolescent/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.