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

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

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. H. G. Wells:

   When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.

2. Lona Mody:

   Patient handwashing is not a routine practice in hospitals, we need to build on the overarching principles we’ve already developed with adult learning theories and bring them to patients.

3. Barack Obama:

   What Washington needs is adult supervision.

4. United States:

   It is true that a rising number of American teenagers have tried or recently used flavored vapes and this has caused alarm. But by removing all these products from the market, the proposed United States policy forgets that the flavors are an important part of the appeal to adult smokers trying to quit smoking, in Europe, flavored e-cigarettes have contributed to recent declines in adult smoking and well-conducted randomized controlled trials show that these products do help people quit.

5. Woody Haldrugold:

   Each child is an evil. Each adult is an self-control or be controlled evil.

Images & Illustrations of adult

Popularity rank by frequency of use