adult
/əˈdʌlt//ˈæd.ʌlt/
adult noun: an animal that is full-grown.
Noun
adult (plural adults)
- An animal that is full-grown.
- The young not only differs from the adult by the presence of its gills, but its feet are only developed by degrees, and in several genera there are also a deciduous beak and tail, and intestines of a different form1840, Georges Cuvier, Edward Blyth, Robert Mudie, George Johnston, J.O. Westwood, “The fourth order of reptiles—The batrachians”, in Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, page 286
- Synonyms:
- grown up
- A person who has reached the legal age of majority.
Adjective
adult (comparative more adult, superlative most adult)
- Fully grown.
- an adult human, animal, or plant
- The paws of the adult brown bear, and also their hams, especially when smoked, are considered a great delicacy.1837, Michael Donovan, Domestic Economy: Human Food, Animal and Vegetable, page 86
- Synonyms:
- big
- Intended for or restricted to adults rather than children due to size, maturity, knowledge level, judgement, etc.
- adult clothes; adult cereal; an adult documentary
- In May 1967 the WGBH Education Division submitted an initial proposal to HUD for a series of four adult television documentaries on conservation in an urban environment.1973, Marshall Kaplan, Gans, and Kahn, Children and the urban environment (page 21)
- Containing situations or discussions intended primarily for adults, such as serious crime, illicit drug use, extramarital affairs, etc.
- adult situations; adult discussions
- Containing alcohol, intended for consumption only by adults.
- an adult drink; an adult root beer float
- Containing marijuana, intended for consumption only by adults.
- an adult cookie; adult gummy worms
- Containing material of an explicit sexual nature; pornographic.
- an adult movie
- This program contains adult content. Parental discretion is advised.
- Containing excessive vulgar or profane speech, text or images, intended only for adults.
- adult language; an adult cartoon
- Intended for, or restricted to, those who are not young children.
- an adult menu; an adult fare
- Children go free, but for those 12 and up, you must purchase an adult ticket.
Verb
adult (third-person singular simple present adults, present participle adulting, simple past and past participle adulted)
- To behave like an adult.
- Adulting is hard!
- To (cause to) be or become an adult.
- Womanhood was achieved at twenty-one, when the female was "adulted"; manhood was fully achieved at twenty-five, […]1974, Occasional Papers, numbers 42-46, Syracuse University, page 5
- The process of adulting children[…] overlaps with the process of the uncontrolled infiltration of the media[…] into children’s imagination.2013, Ewa Rewers, The Contradictions of Urban Art, →ISBN, page 84
adult meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
adult in Hindi
- fully grown human
- वयस्क vayask, बालिग़ bāliġ, प्रौढ़ prauṛh
- fully grown
- वयस्क vayask, बालिग़ bāliġ, प्रौढ़ prauṛh
adult in Tamil
- fully grown
- பெரியர் periyar, பெரியவர் periyavar
adult in Urdu
- fully grown human
- بالِغ bāliġ
adult in Bengali
- fully grown human
- প্রাপ্তবয়স্ক praptoboẏosko, সাবালক śabalok
- fully grown
- প্রাপ্তবয়স্ক praptoboẏosko, সাবালক śabalok
More languagesFewer languages
- adult in Malayalam
- വലിയ valiya
- adult in Kannada
- ವಯಸ್ಕ vayaska
- adult in Punjabi
- وڈا vaḍḍā, ਬਾਲਗ bālag
- adult in Gujarati
- મોટેરું moṭerũ
- adult in Odia
- ପ୍ରାପ୍ତବୟସ୍କ prāptabayaska
- adult in Sanskrit
- प्रौढ prauḍha, वृद्ध vṛddha
- adult in Sinhala
- වැඩිහිටියා wæḍihiṭiyā
- adult in Pashto
- بالغ bāleǧ
- adult in Tagalog
- maygulang, nasagulang, adulto
- adult in Arabic
- بَالِغ bāliḡ, رَاشِد rāšid
- adult in Malay
- dewasa
- adult in Indonesian
- dewasa
- adult in Persian
- بزرگسال bozorgsâl, بالغ bâleġ, کلانسال kalânsâl
- adult in Thai
- ผู้ใหญ่ pûu-yài
- adult in Vietnamese
- người lớn, trưởng thành
- adult in Myanmar
- လူကြီး lu-kri:
Examples of adult in a sentence
- Adult admission is €14, children under 12 pay €5, and children under 6 go free.2007, Dublin, Explorer Publishing & Distribution, →ISBN, page 200:
- Next to her sat her cousin Jules, who had turned twelve the preceding year and was therefore enjoying his second year at the adult table.2012, Deron R. Hicks, Secrets of Shakespeare's Grave, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 32:
Synonyms of adult
- grown up
- big
- pornographic
- grown-up
- grownup
- growed-up
- postpubescent
- fully grown
- for adults
- X-rated
Antonyms
Forms of adult
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | adults |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more adult |
| superlative | most adult |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | adults |
| present participle | adulting |
| past participle | adulted |
| past | adulted |
Origin of adult
From French adulte, from Latin adultus (“grown up”), perfect passive participle of adolescō (“to grow up”). Compare adolescent.
Words formed from adult
- adult actress
- adult album alternative
- adult alternative
- adult baby
- adult baby syndrome
- adult beverage
- adult bookstore
- adultcentrism
- adult child
- adult contemporary
- adult content
- adult education
- adultescent
- adult film
- adulticide
- adultification
- adultify
- adult in the room
- adultish
- adultism
- adultivity
- adultization
- adultize
- adult language
- adult learner
- adultlike
- adultly
- adult movie
- adultness
- adultocentric
- adultoid
- adult-onset diabetes
- adultophile
- adult-oriented rock
- adult protection
- adult relations
- adult respiratory distress syndrome
- adultship
- adult shop
- adultspeak
- adult star
- adult survivor
- adult third culture kid
- adultwear
- adulty
- appropriate adult
- consenting adult
- Disney adult
- emerging adult
- hot adult contemporary
- hyperadult
- kidult
- new adult
- nonadult
- older adult
- preadult
- pseudoadult
- subadult
- unadult
- young adult
Phrases with adult
- adult films
- adult shops
- adult stars
- adult babies
- adult movies
- adult children
- adult learners
- ADULT syndrome
- adult actresses
- adult beverages
- adult survivors
- adult bookstores
3 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with adult
3 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about adult
- What does adult mean?
- Adult means an animal that is full-grown.
- What is adult in Hindi?
- Adult in Hindi is वयस्क (vayask), बालिग़ (bāliġ), प्रौढ़ (prauṛh). See Adult meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use adult in a sentence?
- Adult admission is €14, children under 12 pay €5, and children under 6 go free.
- What part of speech is adult?
- Adult can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce adult?
- Adult is pronounced /ˈæd.ʌlt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of adult?
- The plural of adult is adults.
Words near adult in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: adult (page history and authors); വലിയ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ವಯಸ್ಕ (Kannada) (page history and authors); وڈا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); મોટેરું (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-gb-adult.ogg, en-ca-adult.opus, en-us-adult.ogg.
Cite this entry: “adult.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/adult. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.