Definitions for adult
əˈdʌlt, ˈæd ʌltadult

Princeton's WordNet(3.60 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. adult, grownupnoun

   a fully developed person from maturity onward

2. adultadjective

   any mature animal

3. adult, big, full-grown, fully grown, grown, grownupadjective

   (of animals) fully developed

   "an adult animal"; "a grown woman"

4. pornographic, adultadjective

   designed to arouse lust

   "pornographic films and magazines"; "adult movies"

Wiktionary(2.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. adultnoun

   A fully grown human or animal.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

2. adultnoun

   A person who lives outside the parental home.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

3. adultnoun

   A person whose parents are deceased.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

4. adultadjective

   Of a human or animal, fully grown.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

5. adultadjective

   Intended for adults rather than children.

   adult clothes

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

6. adultadjective

   Containing material of an explicit sexual nature

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

Wikipedia(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   Biologically, an adult is a human or other organism that has reached sexual maturity. In human context, the term adult additionally has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible. The typical age of attaining legal adulthood is 18, although definition may vary by legal rights and country. Human adulthood encompasses psychological adult development. Definitions of adulthood are often inconsistent and contradictory; a person may be biologically an adult, and have adult behavior but still be treated as a child if they are under the legal age of majority. Conversely, one may legally be an adult but possess none of the maturity and responsibility that may define an adult character. In different cultures there are events that relate passing from being a child to becoming an adult or coming of age. This often encompasses the passing a series of tests to demonstrate that a person is prepared for adulthood, or reaching a specified age, sometimes in conjunction with demonstrating preparation. Most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood.

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Adultadjective

   having arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age

   Etymology: [L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]

2. Adultnoun

   a person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength; one who has reached maturity

   Etymology: [L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]

Freebase(4.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   Biologically, an adult is a human being or other organism that is of reproductive age. In human context, the term adult additionally has meanings associated with social and legal concepts; for example, a legal adult is a legal concept for a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible. In addition, human adulthood encompasses psychological adult development. Definitions of adulthood are often inconsistent and contradictory; a person may be biologically an adult, and have adult behavior but still be treated as a child if they are under the legal age of majority. Conversely, one may legally be an adult but possess none of the maturity and responsibility that may define adult character. An event relating to the oncoming of adulthood is coming of age, which encompasses passing a series of tests to demonstrate that a person is prepared for adulthood, or reaching a specified age, sometimes in conjunction with demonstrating preparation. Most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   ad-ult′, adj. grown: mature.—n. a grown-up person.—n. Adult′ness. [L. adultus—adolescĕre, to grow. See Adolescent.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine(2.50 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age.

Editors Contribution(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. adult

   A person of a known specific age defined in legislation.

   In some countries the defined legal age of an adult is 16, in other countries it is 18.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

Entomology(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   the stage when an insect is sexually mature and ready to reproduce normally.

Matched Categories

1. • Person

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'adult' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2240

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'adult' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3659

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'adult' in Nouns Frequency: #601

How to pronounce adult?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say adult in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of adult in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of adult in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of adult in a Sentence

1. Bernie Sanders:

   Everything that happens every day, weigh on how people feels about you, and my own view is that it's the voters who view you look at the totality of who the candidate is, you look at what that candidate stands for the integrity of that candidate, the history of our candidates, I've been fighting for working families, for my entire adult life.

2. John Arway:

   As we continue to study the river, we find young-of-year and now adult bass with sores, lesions and more recently a cancerous tumor, all of which continue to negatively impact population levels and recreational fishing, if we do not act to address the water quality issues in the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania risks losing what is left of what was once considered a world-class smallmouth bass fishery.

3. Katherine Mansfield:

   By health I mean the power to live a full, adult, living, breathing life in close contact with... the earth and the wonders thereof - the sea - the sun.

4. Matt Hennessy:

   I had many reasons to be very fearful of coming forward as a student and in the years after being a graduate student... but I realized that by letting go of that fear Im getting my life back. david Daniels -LSB- and Scott Walters -LSB- right -RSB- are innocent of any wrongdoing, Matt Hennessy told NPR in a statement. Samuel Schultz is not Samuel Schultz. Samuel Schultz never would have gotten this much attention from Samuel Schultz singing, and Samuel Schultz knows and resents that fact. Samuel Schultz waited eight years to complain about adult, consensual sex to ride the MeToo movement to unearned celebrity. We will fight this.

5. Jean Baudrillard:

   There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world.

Popularity rank by frequency of use