1
a
: being in the first or an early stage of life, growth, or development
b
c
: of an early, tender, or desirable age for use as food or drink
fresh young lamb
a young wine
2
: having little experience
3
a
: recently come into being : new
a young publishing company
b
4
: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of youth or a young person
young at heart
5
capitalized
: representing a new or rejuvenated especially political group or movement
plural young
1
2
: a single recently born or hatched animal
Synonyms
Examples of young in a Sentence
Adjective
He looks young for his age.
A very nice young man greeted us at the door.
Young people today have a lot of opportunities.
He dreamed of being an artist when he was young.
The movie isn't suitable for young viewers.
He's still too young to buy alcohol legally.
Our youngest daughter just started school.
“When I was young,” the man said, “the world was a different place.”
The season is still young.
Noun
music that appeals to the young
The very young and the elderly are particularly sensitive to the disease.
a robin feeding her young
The young of a wolf are called pups.
Recent Examples on the Web
Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 24 May 2024
My younger sister called me and said there was an active shooter at Jackie’s school.
—Michelle Tauber, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024
In 2019, however, there was apathy among young voters, who failed to turn out.
—Kate Bartlett, NPR, 24 May 2024
There will be free food for children younger than 18 while supplies last.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 May 2024
The three seniors have taken charge in showing their younger teammates how varsity players need to operate.
—Jacob Steinberg, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
At 5 months old, the bears were too young to survive on their own, the society said.
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 23 May 2024
But officials are acutely aware that the tech is young and brittle, and that generative AI — prediction models trained on vast datasets to generate on-demand text, images, video and human-like conversation — is anything but tailor-made for a dangerous trade steeped in deception.
—Frank Bajak, Fortune, 23 May 2024
Molly Brown, from film Senior Year, has been cast as Dexter's younger sister, Debra Morgan.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 23 May 2024
Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 16 May 2024
The ants feed the leaves to a species of fungus that doubles as their home; in turn, the ants feed the fungus to their own young.
—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
Following up on past observations that caecilian broods spend a lot of time around the maternal vent, Jared, Antoniazzi, and their co-researchers collected 16 female caecilians and their young from beneath the forest floor of cacao plantations.
—Popular Science, 7 Mar. 2024
The studious young aimed to be au courant—not to change reality or even understand it, but to win college debates and take competitive exams for public sector jobs.
—Anjum Hasan, The New York Review of Books, 28 Dec. 2023
Photograph: Andrew Hetherington Cameron young slides a driver from his bag.
—WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
By 1986, Lampley was ringside in upstate New York broadcasting young Mike Tyson’s destruction of veteran Jesse Ferguson.
—Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Sep. 2023
Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals like penguins who breed and rear their young on the sea ice, while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space.
—Reuters, NBC News, 26 Sep. 2023
However, this is the SEC and starting that young is difficult.
—Matt Stahl | Mstahl@al.com, al, 2 Sep. 2023
Adjective
The men who meet at the McDonald’s are as young as 62 and as old as 90.
—Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 24 May 2024
My younger sister called me and said there was an active shooter at Jackie’s school.
—Michelle Tauber, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024
In 2019, however, there was apathy among young voters, who failed to turn out.
—Kate Bartlett, NPR, 24 May 2024
There will be free food for children younger than 18 while supplies last.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 May 2024
The three seniors have taken charge in showing their younger teammates how varsity players need to operate.
—Jacob Steinberg, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
At 5 months old, the bears were too young to survive on their own, the society said.
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 23 May 2024
But officials are acutely aware that the tech is young and brittle, and that generative AI — prediction models trained on vast datasets to generate on-demand text, images, video and human-like conversation — is anything but tailor-made for a dangerous trade steeped in deception.
—Frank Bajak, Fortune, 23 May 2024
Molly Brown, from film Senior Year, has been cast as Dexter's younger sister, Debra Morgan.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 23 May 2024
Noun
In reproduction, there’s the energy embodied by offspring–the hatchlings that emerge from eggs or the newborn young that result from live birth.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 16 May 2024
The ants feed the leaves to a species of fungus that doubles as their home; in turn, the ants feed the fungus to their own young.
—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
Following up on past observations that caecilian broods spend a lot of time around the maternal vent, Jared, Antoniazzi, and their co-researchers collected 16 female caecilians and their young from beneath the forest floor of cacao plantations.
—Popular Science, 7 Mar. 2024
The studious young aimed to be au courant—not to change reality or even understand it, but to win college debates and take competitive exams for public sector jobs.
—Anjum Hasan, The New York Review of Books, 28 Dec. 2023
Photograph: Andrew Hetherington Cameron young slides a driver from his bag.
—WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
By 1986, Lampley was ringside in upstate New York broadcasting young Mike Tyson’s destruction of veteran Jesse Ferguson.
—Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Sep. 2023
Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals like penguins who breed and rear their young on the sea ice, while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space.
—Reuters, NBC News, 26 Sep. 2023
However, this is the SEC and starting that young is difficult.
—Matt Stahl | Mstahl@al.com, al, 2 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'young.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to young
Dictionary Entries Near young
Cite this Entry
“Young.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/young. Accessed 2 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
young
1 of 2 adjective1
a
: being in the early stage of life, growth, or development
2
: lacking in experience
3
: recently come into being : new
young rock strata
4
: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of youth or a young person
young at heart
young
2 of 2 plural noun1
: young persons : youth
music that appeals to the young
2
: immature or recently born offspring
a bear and her young
Medical Definition
young
noun
plural young
1
: immature offspring
—used especially of animals
2
: a single recently born or hatched animal
Biographical Definition
Young
2 of 6biographical name (2)
Brig*ham
ˈbri-gəm 
1801–1877 American Mormon leader
1801–1877 American Mormon leader
Young
3 of 6biographical name (3)
Cy originally Denton True Young 1867–1955 American baseball player
Young
4 of 6biographical name (4)
Michael W(arren) 1949– American geneticist
Young
5 of 6biographical name (5)
Owen D. 1874–1962 American lawyer
Young
6 of 6biographical name (6)
Whitney Moore 1921–1971 American civil rights leader
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share