pubescent

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French pubescent, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin pubescens (“to become hairy, downy, or an adult”)

Adjective

pubescent (comparative more pubescent, superlative most pubescent)

1. At or just after the age of puberty.
   • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xi

     […] the pubescent male brain isn't noted for its consistent engagement with reality […]

   • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     The 18-year-old Bieber can’t quite pull off the “adult” thing just yet: His voice may have dropped a bit since the days of “Baby,” but it still mostly registers as “angelic,” and veers toward a pubescent whine at times.

2. (botany, zoology) Covered with down or fine hairs.

Derived terms

• mid-pubescent
• peripubescent
• postpubescent
• prepubescent

Related terms

• puberty, pubescence

Noun

pubescent (plural pubescents)

1. An individual who is going through puberty.

Synonyms

• postpubescent
• See Thesaurus:preteen

Translations

arriving at puberty

• Catalan: púber, pubescent
• Finnish: murrosikäinen (fi)
• French: pubère (fr)
• Galician: pubescente, púbere
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: geschlechtsreif (de)
• Greek: έφηβος (el) m (éfivos)
• Portuguese: pubescente (pt), púbere (pt)
• Spanish: pubescente (es), puberto m

See also

• puberulent

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) pūbēscent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of pūbēscō