adult

uh-DULT/əˈdʌlt/AD-ult/ˈæd.ʌlt/

8 meanings of adult

1
nouncountable
A person who is fully grown or has reached the legal age of majority; also, an animal that has reached full growth.
Only an adult can rent a car in most states.
The survey counted adults separately from minors living in the same household.
Similargrown-up
Oppositechild, minor, juvenile
2
fully developedadjective
Fully grown; having reached the final, mature stage of physical development.
Adult salmon return to the rivers where they hatched.
The adult form of the dragonfly looks nothing like its aquatic larva.
Similarmature, full-grown, grown
Oppositeimmature, juvenile, young
Note
The adjective reaches further than the animal noun: an adult human, an adult animal, even an adult plant. It usually stands before its noun to mark the grown stage, as in the adult brown bear whose smoked hams Michael Donovan's Domestic Economy (1837) counts a delicacy. Unlike the 'for grown-ups' meaning, it describes the body of the creature itself, not the audience something is meant for.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Michael Donovan's Domestic Economy describes the adult brown bear's hams, especially when smoked, as a delicacy. en.wiktionary.org
3
adjective
Intended for or restricted to adults rather than children, or sometimes to anyone past early childhood, as with adult tickets or sizes.
The shelter mostly receives adult clothing and rarely anything in children's sizes.
Adult education programs let people finish degrees they started decades ago.
UsageUsually before a noun: adult tickets, adult education. Out of context it can suggest sexual content.
Note
Here the reasons for the restriction vary. Size explains adult clothes, while taste or seriousness explains adult cereal or an adult documentary. The narrower labels for alcohol, explicit sex and rough language all grew from this broad sense, so the adjective can be ambiguous out of context.
4
showing sexadjective
Containing material of an explicit sexual nature; pornographic: a common euphemism in commercial labeling.
The hotel removed adult channels from its standard room package.
He worked as a cameraman in the adult film industry for a decade.
Similarexplicit, pornographic, X-rated, erotic

Less common meanings

5
handle choresverbslangintransitive
To behave like an adult; to take on the routine responsibilities of grown-up life.
Some days I just can't adult, so the laundry waits until tomorrow.
He adulted hard this weekend: taxes filed, oil changed, fridge actually stocked.
UsageOften negative or in the -ing form: I can't adult today, adulting is hard. It is usually self-mocking.
Note
A slang verb built on the noun. It names the routine business of grown-up life, such as bills, laundry and errands, usually with a self-mocking edge, and it often appears negated (I can't adult today). It is a different verb from the rare 'become an adult' verb.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The slang verb is formed from the noun adult. linguisticanthropology.org
Adult also has a distinct, rare verbal sense meaning to become an adult. en.wiktionary.org
6
adjective
Containing themes, situations, or language considered suitable only for mature audiences, such as violence, drug use, or profanity.
Critics praised the cartoon for tackling surprisingly adult subject matter.
The film earned its rating for adult themes rather than violence or language.
Similarmature
Note
A ratings word, heard in phrases like adult situations, adult discussions and adult themes. It flags serious subject matter, such as crime, drugs or infidelity, rather than explicitness. That is what separates it from the sexual sense. A cartoon praised for adult themes is grown-up in what it tackles. The label also covers strong language, so an adult cartoon may simply be one full of swearing.
7
adjective
Euphemistic: containing alcohol or cannabis and intended only for adults of legal age, as in adult beverages.
The brunch menu lists adult beverages on a separate page from the smoothies.
She unwound on the porch with an adult beverage after the long drive.
UsageMostly in adult beverage or adult drink, a polite, often joking way to say alcohol.
Similaralcoholic
Oppositenonalcoholic
Note
Said of a drink, the adjective simply means that alcohol is in it. The humor often lies in the noun it modifies. An adult root beer float takes a children's treat and spikes it, and adult announces the change politely without naming the liquor.
8
verbnonstandardtransitive or intransitive
To become an adult, or to cause someone to become one.
Similarmature
Note
A rare, nonstandard verb that turns the noun into a process, and it runs both ways. Ewa Rewers writes of "adulting children" (2013), which makes it causative. Syracuse University's Occasional Papers (1970s) set off "adulted" in inverted commas for a woman reaching twenty-one, a sign it still felt like a coinage. Keep it apart from the "act like a grown-up" verb, which describes conduct rather than a change of status.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
Ewa Rewers uses the words "adulting children". en.wiktionary.org
Syracuse University's Occasional Papers uses "adulted" in quotation marks for a female reaching twenty-one. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

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Origin

Latin adolescō meant "I grow up," and its perfect passive participle adultus meant "grown up." This came into English through French adulte. Compare adolescent.