ENGLISH
REFERENCE

teen

n. · adj.
US //ˈtin// UK //tˈiːn// teen
  1. 1 a teenager (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    a person who is between 13 and 19 years old.

    a person in their teens, specifically between the ages of 13 and 19 inclusive.

    Example

    The shop was full of teens looking at the latest video games.

    Example

    Marketing agencies often struggle to capture the attention of teens, whose consumption habits shift rapidly in response to social media trends.
  2. 2 related to teenagers (adj.)
    B1 Intermediate

    relating to or made for people between 13 and 19 years old.

    pertaining to the period of adolescence or characteristic of teenagers; typically used attributively.

    Example

    She writes stories for a popular teen magazine.

    Example

    The director's latest project is a teen drama that explores the complexities of modern high school friendships.
  3. 3 grief or trouble (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic Literary Literary

    a very old word for sadness, pain, or trouble.

    misery, grief, or vexation. This sense is restricted to historical or poetic contexts and is not found in modern speech.

    Example

    The old poem spoke of a heart filled with teen and longing.

    Example

    The protagonist's journey was marked by much teen and tribulation, reflecting the somber themes common in medieval verse.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is entirely archaic; learners will only encounter it in historical literature like Shakespeare or Middle English texts.
Etymology 1

Clipping of teenager. For more synonyms see at Thesaurus:teenager.

Etymology 2

From Middle English tene, from Old English tēona, tēone, tēon, from Proto-West Germanic teun, from Proto-Germanic *teuną.

Etymology 3

From Middle English tenen, from Old English tēonian, tȳnan (“to vex, annoy, provoke”), from Proto-West Germanic tiunijan, from Proto-Germanic tiunijaną.

Etymology 4

From Middle English tenen, tinen, from Old English tȳnan (“to fence, inclose, shut, close”), from Proto-West Germanic tūnijan, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną (“fence, enclosure”). Doublet of tine. Cognate with Dutch tuinen, German zäunen. Related to English town.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 19, 2026