teenager

teenager — noun

1. someone who has passed childhood but has not yet become an adult, usually betwee

1.nounA2
Definition

someone who has passed childhood but has not yet become an adult, usually between the ages of thirteen and nineteen.

Example

Madison started her first part-time job the summer before tenth grade, when she was a teenager.

time clause: when + was a teenager

Most teenagers check social media between classes in high school and again late at night.

Common collocations
  • as a teenager
  • typical teenager
  • troubled teenager
  • rebellious teenager
Synonyms
  • adolescent

    more formal or clinical; can refer to the biological stage, not just the age range

  • youth

    slightly formal; can cover a wider age range (roughly 15–24) or refer to young people as a group

  • teen

    informal shortening of teenager, common in casual speech and media

Antonyms
  • adult

    someone who has reached full adulthood, roughly age 18 or older

  • child

    someone who has not yet reached teenage years

Usage Note

Teenager is a countable, everyday noun. The more formal equivalent is adolescent, which can refer to the biological stage of development as well as the age range.

Common Mistakes

He is a teenage.
He is a teenager.
'teenage' is an adjective; the noun form for a person is 'teenager'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Adolescent is the most formal of these three and is often used in medical, academic, or clinical contexts. Youth is slightly formal and can refer to a broader age range (roughly 15–24) or to young people as a collective group, as in 'the youth of today'. Teen is the most informal option, a shortening of teenager common in casual speech, headlines, and marketing. For everyday reference to a 13–19-year-old, teenager is the neutral, natural choice. For example: 'The clinic offers counseling for adolescents struggling with anxiety.' 'Youth programs in the city attract hundreds of participants each summer.' 'The movie is especially popular with teens.'

adolescent ↗youth ↗teen ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • as a teenager

Etymology

English

Teenager is a 20th-century word formed by combining 'teen' (from the suffix shared by the numbers 13–19) with 'ager' (from 'age'). It was first recorded in the 1920s and became widely popular in the 1940s and 1950s as a label for the emerging youth culture of that era.