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REFERENCE

juvenile

adj. · n.
US //ˈdʒuvəˌnaɪɫ// UK //dʒˈuːvənˌaɪl// ju·ve·nile
  1. 1 young or developing (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    relating to young people or animals that are still growing.

    relating to or characteristic of young people or animals that have not yet reached physiological or legal maturity.

    Example

    The scientist studied the juvenile birds as they learned to fly.

    Example

    The research team monitored the juvenile population of sea turtles to determine if the nesting grounds were successfully supporting the next generation.
  2. 2 childish (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    acting in a silly way that is more typical of a child than an adult.

    displaying a lack of maturity or seriousness; often used pejoratively to describe adult behaviour.

    Example

    He made a juvenile joke that nobody in the office found funny.

    Example

    The critic dismissed the film's humour as juvenile, arguing that the script relied too heavily on cheap physical gags rather than clever dialogue.
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  1. 3 a young person (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal Technical Law

    a young person who is not yet an adult in the eyes of the law.

    an individual who has not yet reached the age of majority; frequently used in legal contexts regarding criminal responsibility.

    Example

    The court decided to treat the suspect as a juvenile because of his age.

    Example

    Legislators are currently debating whether certain violent crimes should allow a juvenile to be tried in an adult court system.
  2. 4 a young animal (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Science

    an animal that is not yet fully grown or able to breed.

    a young animal that has not yet reached sexual maturity or its adult plumage/coat.

    Example

    The juveniles of this species look very different from the adults.

    Example

    Identifying the species can be difficult because the juveniles often lack the distinctive markings found on mature specimens.
Origin

Borrowed from Latin iuvenīlis (“youthful; juvenile”), from iuvenis (“young; a youth”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relationship or a pertaining to). Iuvenis is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European h₂yuh₁en- (“young”), from h₂óyu (“long life; lifetime”) (from h₂ey- (“age; life”)) + h₁én (“in”).

Word family

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