precocious
pre·co·cious
adj \pri-ˈkō-shəs\Definition of PRECOCIOUS
1
: exceptionally early in development or occurrence <precocious puberty>
2
: exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age <a precocious child>
— pre·co·cious·ly adverb
— pre·co·cious·ness noun
— pre·coc·i·ty \pri-ˈkä-sə-tē\ noun
Examples of PRECOCIOUS
- She was a precocious child who could read before she went to school.
- A precocious musician, he was giving concerts when he was seven.
- But what has paleontologists agog is this googol-granddaddy's precocious attributes: most notably the relative flatness of its face, which is more modern-looking than skulls half its age. —Fred Guterl, Newsweek, 22 July 2002
- As a boy, I had caught eight-inch-long, juvenile “snapper” blues in Barnegat Bay and marveled at the uncommon strength and speed and the precocious attack instinct within their slender, silver bodies. —Pete Bodo, New York Times, 8 July 2001
- … Columbus was still sailing the ocean blue and American English, frisky and rambunctious as a precocious child, was as yet unborn. —Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2000
- … no longer certain that my blackness gave me precocious wisdom, or that I could outslick these folks … —Lorene Cary, Black Ice, 1991
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Origin of PRECOCIOUS
Latin praecoc-, praecox early ripening, precocious, from prae- + coquere to cook — more at cook
First Known Use: 1650
Related to PRECOCIOUS
Antonyms: late
Near Antonyms: behindhand, belated, delinquent, latish, overdue, slow, tardy; anticipated, expected; delayed, detained, postponed
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