INDEX:
1. young
2. younger than someone else
3. a brother or sister who is younger than you
4. a young person
5. young people in general
6. the time when you were young
7. affecting or involving young people
8. looking or behaving like a young person
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ OLD
see also
↑ AGE
↑ CHILD
↑ BABY
◆◆◆
1. young
▷ young /jʌŋ/ [adjective]
▪ You’re too young to smoke.
▪ a single mother with two young children
▪ When I was younger, I used to play a lot of baseball.
▪ Her youngest son works for a television company.
▪ At 35, he is the youngest person to hold this office.
▷ little /ˈlɪtl/ [adjective] especially spoken
very young - use this to talk about a young child :
▪ When I was little we used to go camping a lot.
▪ There were three bridesmaids at the wedding, and even the little one behaved beautifully.
little boy/girl
a young child, or a young son or daughter
▪ They’ve been married for ten years and have two little girls.
▪ Who’s that little boy in the blue sweater?
▷ small /smɔːl/ [adjective]
young, usually less than about ten years old :
▪ We loved going to the zoo when we were small.
▪ The kids were too small to really understand.
small children
▪ She soon discovered that looking after small children was very tiring.
2. younger than someone else
▷ younger /ˈjʌŋgəʳ/ [adjective]
▪ At school, the younger children go home an hour before the rest.
▪ He is the most influential of the younger French photographers.
▷ junior /ˈdʒuːniəʳ/ [singular noun]
ten years/18 months etc somebody’s junior
formal
ten years, etc younger than someone else :
▪ Sarah is six years my junior.
▪ He was replaced by a young graduate, 10 years his junior.
3. a brother or sister who is younger than you
▷ younger sister/brother /ˌjʌŋgəʳ ˈsɪstəʳ, ˈbrʌðəʳ/ [countable noun]
▪ Tony’s the oldest - he has two younger sisters.
▪ The king was killed by his younger brother.
▷ little sister/brother /ˌlɪtl ˈsɪstəʳ, ˈbrʌðəʳ/ [countable noun]
a younger sister or brother, especially one who is still a child :
▪ Mike’s little brother is doing much better at school than he is.
▪ She went to the ballet class with her little sister every week.
▷ kid sister/brother /ˌkɪd ˈsɪstəʳ, ˈbrʌðəʳ/ [countable noun] informal
a younger sister or brother, who is usually still a child :
▪ He has a kid sister in the fourth grade at school.
▪ I suddenly realized Bobby was more than just an annoying kid brother who always wanted to use my stuff.
4. a young person
▷ teenager /ˈtiːneɪdʒəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who is between 13 and 19 years old :
▪ River Phoenix became a famous actor while still a teenager.
▪ The survey shows that four out of five teenagers have experimented with illegal drugs.
teenage [adjective only before noun]
▪ Jenny has three teenage children.
▷ youth /juːθ/ [countable noun usually plural]
a young man between about 15 and 25 years old - use this especially about groups of young men who behave badly or do something illegal :
▪ One of the youths pushed her against the wall and took her bag.
▪ The police had questioned three youths, but then later released them without charge.
▪ a gang of youths on motorbikes
▷ in your teens /ɪn jɔːʳ ˈtiːnz/ [adverb]
someone who is in their teens is between 13 and 19 years old :
▪ She had run away from home several times in her teens.
in your early/mid/late teens
▪ Most of the girls at the concert were in their early teens.
▷ adolescent /ˌædəˈles ə nt◂/ [countable noun]
someone who is at the age when they change from being a child into a young adult - use this especially when talking about problems that young people have at this age :
▪ John changed from a friendly and cheerful young boy into a confused adolescent.
▪ An estimated 62 million Americans smoke, including 4.1 million adolescents aged 12-17.
adolescent [adjective]
▪ Parents tend to worry more about adolescent daughters than adolescent sons.
▷ minor /ˈmaɪnəʳ/ [countable noun]
a person under the age when they legally become an adult - used in legal contexts :
▪ Stores are forbidden to sell alcohol and cigarettes to minors.
5. young people in general
▷ the young /ðə ˈjʌŋ/ [plural noun]
▪ The show is extremely popular, especially with the young.
▪ Living together without getting married is increasingly common among the young.
▷ the youth /ðə ˈjuːθ/ [plural noun]
the young people of a particular time or place :
the youth of
▪ The youth of today have much more money than we had 50 years ago.
▪ The youth of industrialized nations need to be made aware of global problems.
6. the time when you were young
▷ childhood /ˈtʃaɪldhʊd/ [countable/uncountable noun]
the time when you are a child :
▪ Nina had happy memories of her childhood on the farm.
early childhood
when you are a young child
▪ His early childhood was spent with his father in Chicago.
childhood [adjective only before noun]
▪ My own childhood hero was Stirling Moss, the racing car driver.
childhood illness/memory/friend/experience
▪ The smell of the sea brought back childhood memories of long summer holidays spent on the beach.
▷ youth /juːθ/ [uncountable noun]
the time when you are young, especially the time between 15 and 25 when you are no longer a child :
▪ She revisited all the places where she had spent her youth.
in somebody’s youth
when they were young
▪ Caroline had been a ballet dancer in her youth.
▷ adolescence /ˌædəˈles ə ns/ [uncountable noun]
the time when a young person is changing from being a child into a young adult - use this especially when talking about the problems that young people have at this age :
▪ During adolescence, boys are sometimes very shy and lacking in self-confidence.
7. affecting or involving young people
▷ youth /juːθ/ [adjective only before noun]
youth club/group/organization etc
a club, group etc for young people :
▪ I met her at the local youth club.
▪ a concert by the National Youth Orchestra
▷ teenage /ˈtiːneɪdʒ/ [adjective only before noun]
use this about things produced for teenagers, or things that teenagers do :
▪ the teenage music scene
teenage fashions/magazines/pregnancy/drug-taking etc
▪ There has been a significant increase in teenage pregnancies recently.
▷ juvenile /ˈdʒuːvənaɪlǁ-n ə l, -naɪl/ [adjective only before noun]
use this about crimes by young people :
juvenile crime/offender
crime by young people/a young person who is a criminal
▪ Juvenile crime is an increasing problem in big cities.
▪ Many juvenile offenders were being put in adult prisons.
juvenile delinquency
illegal or bad behaviour by young people
▪ The public housing units have frequently become slums and hotbeds of crime, especially juvenile delinquency.
juvenile court
a court that deals with crimes by young people
▪ O'Brien, 15, will face murder charges in a juvenile court.
juvenile [countable noun]
a young person who has done something illegal :
▪ the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system
8. looking or behaving like a young person
▷ youthful /ˈjuːθf ə l/ [adjective]
looking or behaving like a young person, even though you are no longer young :
▪ At 61, she seems remarkably youthful.
▪ Although middle-aged, he had a youthful appearance.
▪ She still manages to bring a youthful enthusiasm and energy to her work.
▷ look young for your age /lʊk ˌjʌŋ fəʳ jɔːr ˈeɪdʒ/ [verb phrase]
to look younger than you really are :
▪ Veronique looks very young for her age, and people often think that her daughter is her sister.
▷ mutton dressed as lamb /ˌmʌtn drest əz ˈlæm/ [noun phrase] British
someone who dresses in clothes that are only suitable for a much younger person in order to seem younger - use this to say that you think this makes them look silly or embarrassing :
▪ Some people might think that she was ‘mutton dressed as lamb’, but tonight Moira really didn’t care.