neotenous

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English

WOTD – 17 December 2012
WOTD – 17 December 2014

Etymology

neoteny +‎ -ous

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /niˈɒtənəs/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /niˈɑːtənəs/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

neotenous (comparative more neotenous, superlative most neotenous)

  1. Exhibiting retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
  2. (informal) Babyfaced.

Quotations

  • 1967 December 22, Desmond Morris, LIFE volume 63, number 25, article The Naked Ape, page 97:
    So there he stands—our vertical, hunting, weapon-toting, territorial, neotenous, brainy naked ape, a primate by adoption, ready to conquer the world. But he is a very new and experimental departure, and new models frequently have imperfections. …
  • 2005, Charles Stross, Accelerando, chapter Nightfall, page 245:
    ‘Parents. What are they good for?’ asks Amber, with all the truculence of her seventeen years. ‘Even if they stay neotenous, they lose flexibility. And there's that long Paleolithic tradition of juvenile slavery. Inhuman, I call it.’

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

babyfaced — see babyfaced
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