Wordul · all words

noun · 2 syllables · /əˈdʌlt/

ADULT

What does "ADULT" mean?

A fully grown person or animal that has reached maturity.

Meanings

  1. A person who is fully grown and legally of age. The film is meant for adults, not children.
  2. Fully developed and mature; grown-up. She showed an almost adult calm for a twelve-year-old.
  3. Intended for or suitable only for grown-ups, often as a euphemism for explicit content. The site is restricted to adult material.
  4. To behave in a responsible, grown-up way, especially with reluctance. I've been adulting all day - taxes, dentist, the works. informal

Did you know?

  • 'Adult' and 'adolescent' are the same Latin verb caught at two moments: 'adolescere', to grow up - the adolescent is still mid-growth, the adult has finished it.

Word origin

From Latin 'adultus', past participle of 'adolescere' (to grow up) - which is also the root of 'adolescent', so the grown-up and the growing share one ancestor.

Remember it

ADULT = A Day's Useful Labour Tires - the grown-up's verdict on a working day.

A little poem

Once the word meant tall enough to reach.
Now it means the reaching never ends -
you climb, and find the shelf has climbed as well.

tercet

What it teaches

Being an adult is less an age you arrive at than a thousand small choices to show up anyway.

Quick facts

What does ADULT mean?

A fully grown person or animal that has reached maturity.

Is ADULT a valid word?

Yes — ADULT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is ADULT?

ADULT has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does ADULT come from?

From Latin 'adultus', past participle of 'adolescere' (to grow up) - which is also the root of 'adolescent', so the grown-up and the growing share one ancestor.

What can ADULT teach us?

Being an adult is less an age you arrive at than a thousand small choices to show up anyway.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

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