Word.ws English Dictionary

boomerang child

Syllables: boo·me·rang childUK/ˈbuːməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld//ˈbuməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld/

boomerang child noun: synonym of boomerang kid (“a young adult who has moved back into the parental home after a period of independence”).

Noun

boomerang child (plural boomerang children)

  1. (informal) Synonym of boomerang kid (“a young adult who has moved back into the parental home after a period of independence”).
    • It has been said that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." But that saying doesn't set too well with today's generation of so-called "boomerang children." Chicago Sun-Times writer Ellen James Martin describes "boomerang children" as "grown offspring who move away from home for college...1991 December 2, “Sidney Poitier Blames Parents for Children who Don’t Know how to Survive Tough Times”, in Robert E[dward] Johnson, editor, Jet, volume 81, number 7, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson...
    • Of course, in some homes there are, as my grandmother would say, "good and grown" children still living at home, and other children, now called "boomerang children," coming back home with their children.2010, Barbara A. Moody-Hamilton, “Introduction”, in From the Cradle to the Crypt, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Red Lead Press, →ISBN, page xiii

Examples of boomerang child in a sentence

  • It's very expensive to live." [...] Not all "boomerang children" are young.1991 December 2, “Sidney Poitier Blames Parents for Children who Don’t Know how to Survive Tough Times”, in Robert E[dward] Johnson...
  • Liz's brother, David, could also have been considered a boomerang child.2015, Judy Esposito, Abbi Hattem, “Families and the Family Life Cycle”, in Introduction to Family Counseling: A Case Study Approach...
  • [W]e see the increase of the phenomenon of the "boomerang child," where young adults return to the parental home at least once after the initial departure.2016, D. Nicole Farris, “Introduction to Boomerang Children: Prevalence and Potential Questions”, in Boomerang Kids: The Demography of...

Synonyms of boomerang child

Forms of boomerang child

pluralboomerang children

Origin of boomerang child

From boomerang + child, a reference to the ability of a boomerang to return to the thrower after being thrown.

Questions about boomerang child

What does boomerang child mean?
Boomerang child means synonym of boomerang kid (“a young adult who has moved back into the parental home after a period of independence”).
How do you use boomerang child in a sentence?
It's very expensive to live." [...] Not all "boomerang children" are young.
What part of speech is boomerang child?
Boomerang child is a noun.
How do you pronounce boomerang child?
Boomerang child is pronounced /ˈbuːməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld/ (UK).
What is the plural of boomerang child?
The plural of boomerang child is boomerang children.

Words near boomerang child in the dictionary

  1. boomer shooters
  2. boomerang
  3. boomerang babies
  4. boomerang baby
  5. Boomerang Beach
  6. boomerang child
  7. boomerang children
  8. boomerang dysplasia
  9. boomerang effect
  10. boomerang effects
  11. boomerang illusion

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: boomerang child (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-boomerang child.wav.

Cite this entry: “boomerang child.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/boomerang_child. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.