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young Definition

young (yuŋ)

adjective young′eryuŋ′gər, young′·estyuŋ′gəst

  1. being in an early period of life or growth; not old
  2. characteristic of youth in quality, appearance, or behavior; fresh; vigorous; strong; lively; active
  3. representing or embodying a new tendency, social movement, progressivism, etc. the Young Turks
  4. of or having to do with youth or early life
  5. lately begun; not advanced or developed; in an early stage
  6. lacking experience or practice; immature; raw; ignorant; green
  7. younger than another of the same name or family; junior young Jones or his father, the young Mr. Baker
  8. Geol.
    1. in a stage of increasing and more effective activity, as a stream cutting deep valleys or gorges
    2. having undergone little erosion, as a mountain range showing rugged topography

Etymology: ME yonge < OE geong, akin to Ger & Du jung < IE *yuwen- > L juvenis, Sans yuvan-, young

noun

  1. young people: often with the
  2. offspring, esp. young offspring, collectively a bear and her young

young Idioms

with young

pregnant: said of an animal

Young Definition

Young (yuŋ)

  1. Young, Brigham (brig′əm) 1801-77; U.S. Mormon leader

  2. Young, Edward 1683-1765; Eng. poet

  3. Young, Thomas 1773-1829; Eng. physician, physicist, & linguist

young Synonyms

young

modif.

  1. In the early portion of life

    puerile, boyish, girlish, adolescent, juvenile, budding, juvenescent, in one's teens, childlike, youthful, pubescent, boylike, girllike, new-fledged, blooming, burgeoning, childish, half-grown, growing, blossoming, at the breast, (babe) in arms, knee high to a grasshopper*.

    Antonyms old*, aged, senile.

  2. Inexperienced

    callow, green, immature, tender, raw, untutored, unlearned, junior, subordinate, inferior, unfledged, ignorant, undisciplined, tenderfoot*, not dry behind the ears*, still wet behind the ears*; see also incompetent, inexperienced, naive.

    Antonyms veteran*, expert, experienced.

  3. New

    fresh, modern, recent, newborn; see fashionable.

young is the general word for one in an early period of life and variously connotes the vigor, strength, immaturity, etc. of this period a young child, man, etc.; young blood; youthful applies to one who is, or appears to be, in the period between childhood and maturity or to that which is appropriate to such a person a youthful executive, youthful hopes; juvenile applies to that which relates to, is suited to, or is intended for young persons juvenile delinquency, behavior, books, etc.; puerile implies reference to adults who unbecomingly display the immature qualities of a child puerile petulance; adolescent applies to one in the period between puberty and maturity and especially suggests the awkwardness, emotional instability, etc. of this period adolescent yearnings

young Usage Examples

Preposition: at

  • heart: Cathy is a large individual for a female and is young at heart.

Preposition: as

  • month: Babies as young as four months who had seen the whole trajectory of the ball, could anticipate where it would re-emerge.

Modifies a noun

  • people: Tue 19th Aug 2003: Majority of young people back lower voting age.
  • man: What led a group of young Catholic men to risk their lives for their faith?
  • child: Unlike many adults, young children do not have any choice about whether or not they are exposed to tobacco smoke.
  • woman: A young woman may belong to the Senior Section from her 14th to her 26th birthday.
  • person: Once your young person has applied for a course at the college, they will be invited in for an informal interview.
  • girl: Who is the young girl with the feisty feminist views over the picket fence?

Modifying Another Word

  • too: For some, like Jeff Buckley or Elliott Smith, you have to die way too young.
  • relatively: As he died at a relatively young age, sadly, he only knew his two eldest grandchildren.
  • very: He is therefore highly advisable for the very young children.
  • mostly: They worked in many other areas like driving busses and taxis, and about 16,000 mostly young women joined the Women's Land Army.
  • particularly: There is growing appetite from the public, particularly young people, and business to take action on climate change.
  • pretty: His approach was to choose pretty young people and groom them to make them attractive to other teenagers.

Used with adjective complement

  • die: She even promised to take care of his two children should he, like his father, die young.
  • fledge: COMMON TERN, Common throughout, many with fledged young.
  • look: As I'm a singer, it's also important for me to look young.
  • stay: Top A suave socialite, ( Dan ), stays young while his portrait ages.
  • feel: Makes me feel young actually, which is nice change.

Preposition: of

  • child: The youngest of five children, she was the daughter of the late William and Mary Broadley.