immature

immature — adjective

1. showing a lack of emotional control or sensible judgment that adults are normall

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

showing a lack of emotional control or sensible judgment that adults are normally expected to have

Example

Feng threw his controller across the room after losing the game — an immature reaction.

immature reaction: outburst when losing

The team leader called Kabir's comment immature and asked him to apologise.

Common collocations
  • immature behaviour
  • immature reaction
  • immature attitude
  • immature comment
  • immature response
Synonyms
  • childish

    more direct and more negative than immature; suggests intentional foolishness

  • infantile

    much stronger and more insulting; suggests behaviour of a very young child or baby

  • juvenile

    slightly more formal; common in literary criticism or legal contexts

Antonyms
  • mature

    direct opposite; behaving calmly and sensibly as adults should

  • grown-up

    informal alternative to 'mature', often used with children

Usage Note

Commonly used to criticise how someone reacts to disappointment or disagreement, especially when they show emotion instead of reasoning calmly.

Common Mistakes

He is immature for his age' (when meaning physically small).
He is small for his age.
immature is about behaviour and emotional development, not physical size.

2. lacking the practical knowledge or skill that comes from having done something f

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

lacking the practical knowledge or skill that comes from having done something for a long time

Example

Walid is still immature as a programmer — he writes code that works but is hard to read.

immature as a [role]: new to a profession

The company decided the candidate was too immature in sales to handle the key account.

Common collocations
  • immature in
  • immature as
  • immature understanding
  • immature analysis
Synonyms
  • inexperienced

    neutral and straightforward; preferred in most professional contexts

  • green

    informal; describes someone who is new and has not yet developed skills

  • raw

    describes a beginner whose talent or skill is not yet refined

Antonyms
  • experienced

    direct opposite; having done something long enough to be skilled

  • seasoned

    describes someone with long and varied experience in a field

Usage Note

This sense is usually followed by in or as to specify the area where experience is lacking (e.g. immature in sales, immature as a teacher). It is less common than sense 1.

Common Mistakes

I am immature in this subject' (when you mean you lack knowledge).
I am inexperienced in this subject.
immature in this sense does fit, but inexperienced is more natural and avoids confusion with sense 1.

3. still in the early stages of growth and not yet reached its final or adult form

3.adjectiveB1
Definition

still in the early stages of growth and not yet reached its final or adult form

Example

The immature apple trees in the garden produced only a handful of small fruits.

immature + [plant]: not fully grown biologically

Biologists studied the immature frogs to see how their legs develop before leaving the water.

Common collocations
  • immature fruit
  • immature plant
  • immature technology
  • immature system
  • immature market
Synonyms
  • undeveloped

    focuses on the lack of full growth rather than the stage of growth itself

  • unripe

    specifically of fruit or crops that are not ready to eat

  • unformed

    describes something that has not yet taken its final shape

Antonyms
  • mature

    fully grown or fully developed

  • ripe

    specifically of fruit ready to eat

  • fully developed

    explicitly describes complete growth

Usage Note

Can apply to living things (plants, animals, body parts) or to abstract things (systems, plans, technologies) that have not yet developed fully. The figurative use overlaps slightly with sense 2 but focuses on growth and development rather than experience.

Common Mistakes

The baby is immature' (for a newborn).
The baby is premature' or 'The baby was born early.
immature describes an organism that has not finished growing; premature describes something that happens before the expected time.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All three describe behaviour that is not appropriate for an adult, but they differ in intensity and register. Childish is the most common and directly criticises the person for acting younger than they are (e.g. 'Stop being so childish'). Infantile is much stronger and suggests the person is acting like a baby or toddler (e.g. 'His infantile tantrum shocked everyone'). Juvenile often appears in formal contexts such as literary criticism or law (e.g. 'juvenile humour', 'juvenile offender'). Immature is the broadest and generally a softer criticism than childish — it points to a lack of emotional development rather than intentional foolishness. For example, you might call a teenager's prank immature but a grown adult's tantrum childish or even infantile.

childish ↗infantilejuvenile

Common collocations

Nouns

  • immature adult
  • immature behaviour
  • immature attitude
  • immature reaction
  • immature market

Adverbs

  • emotionally immature
  • socially immature
  • politically immature
  • still immature

Phrases

  • immature for one's age
  • immature response to
  • too immature to

Prepositions

  • immature for
  • immature in
  • immature as

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Immature entered English in the mid-16th century from Latin immātūrus, meaning 'unripe' or 'untimely'. The prefix im- is a variant of in- meaning 'not', combined with mātūrus meaning 'ripe, mature, timely'. The sense of 'behaving younger than one's age' developed in the early 19th century.