adult

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈædʌlt/, /əˈdʌlt/

US:USA pronunciation: IPAUSA pronunciation: IPA/əˈdʌlt, ˈædʌlt/

US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(ə dult′, ad′ult)



WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
a•dult /əˈdʌlt, ˈædʌlt/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. Developmental Biologya person who is fully grown, developed, or of age:Only adults may purchase alcohol.

adj.  [usually: before a noun]
  1. Developmental Biologyhaving attained full size and strength;
    mature:adult plants.
  2. intended only for adults;
    not suitable for children:adult movies.
  3. of or like a fully grown, mature person:The teenager had a very adult expression on her face.
a•dult•hood, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
a•dult  (ə dult′, ad′ult),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. having attained full size and strength;
    grown up;
    mature:an adult person, animal, or plant.
  2. of, pertaining to, or befitting adults.
  3. intended for adults;
    not suitable for children:adult entertainment.

n. 
  1. a person who is fully grown or developed or of age.
  2. a full-grown animal or plant.
  3. Lawmakinga person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law.
  • Latin adultus grown (past participle of adolēre to make grow), equivalent. to ad- ad- + ul- (identical with base al- in aliment, ol- in prolific) + -tus past participle suffix
  • 1525–35; 1925–30 for def. 3;
a•dult′hood, n. 
a•dult′like′, adj. 
a•dult′ly, adv. 
a•dult′ness, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
adult /ˈædʌlt; əˈdʌlt/ adj
  1. having reached maturity; fully developed
  2. of or intended for mature people: adult education
  3. regarded as suitable only for adults, because of being pornographic
 n
  1. a person who has attained maturity; a grownup
  2. a mature fully grown animal or plant
  3. a person who has attained the age of legal majority (18 years for most purposes)
    Compare infant
 vb
  • (intransitive) informal to live or behave like an adult, esp by being responsible and independent
    • Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin adultus, from adolēscere to grow up, from alēscere to grow, from alēre to feed, nourishˈadulthood n
    'adult' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
    age - alto - amphibian - anal - baritone - bass - bastard - beef - boomerang kid - brown fat - community charge - countertenor - deathwatch - down - dun - eclosion - flatfish - fully fledged - goldfinch - grown-up - grow up - hen - horse - imago - in-between - infantilism - innocent - larva - leaf miner - man - mare - mature - metamorphosis - monogenesis - morphogenesis - neoteny - notochord - nymph - ox - paedomorphosis - parasitoid - persistent - poll tax - premolar - psycholinguistics - puberty - pubescent - pupa - queen - aa
    Collocations: adult [people, plants, animals], both adults and [minors, children] are welcome, the [patient, individual] is an adult female, more...

    🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "adult" in the title:


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