fledgling

noun

fledg·​ling ˈflej-liŋ 

often attributive

1

: a young bird just fledged (see fledge sense 1)

a bird feeding her fledglings

2

: an immature or inexperienced person

fledgling medical students

3

: one that is new

a fledgling company

Synonyms of fledgling

• novice
• newcomer
• beginner
• apprentice
• freshman
• rookie

Examples of fledgling in a Sentence

a female bird feeding her fledglings

at hockey he's still a fledgling and needs to work on his basic skating skills

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s a lot of bad crowd work out there, just like there is bad anything else — fledgling or whatever rookie stuff. — Deputy Entertainment, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

Over the next six decades, Dan Tana’s transformed from a fledgling eatery to a buzzing restaurant to, eventually, an institution. — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 7 July 2026

To understand what makes this fledgling automaker’s hypercar different from virtually every other high-performance machine on the road, consider how conventional automotive engineering works. — Bradley Iger, ArsTechnica, 6 July 2026

News comes in the wake of another milestone in the 31-year-old’s fledgling career when he was invited to join the 79th Cannes main competition jury last May. — Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 3 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

fledgling

noun

fledg·​ling ˈflej-liŋ 

1

: a young bird just fledged

2

: an immature or inexperienced person