precocious

adjective

pri-ˈkō-shəs How to pronounce precocious (audio)
Definition of precociousnext
as in early
occurring before the usual or expected time a precocious baldness makes him look older than he really is

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of precocious His career began with a YouTube series Armitage first turned heads with his YouTube series, Iain Loves Theatre, in which the precocious child reviewed Broadway and other musical productions. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026 The Reting Rinpoche dispatched a search team of high lamas, who soon heard about a precocious 2-year-old who enjoyed larking inside chicken coops but also frequently spoke yearningly about making a long journey to Lhasa. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 9 July 2026 The twins were best known for starring on the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack and Cody as precocious identical tweens who grew up in a luxury hotel. — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 7 July 2026 That precocious talent combines with her naturally confident disposition to create one fiery competitor. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 5 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for precocious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precocious
  1. early
  2. premature
  3. unexpected
  4. sudden
  5. untimely
Adjective
  • The prefect of the Gironde region that includes Bordeaux ordered the evacuation in the early hours of Saturday, covering parts of three of the city’s western suburbs, including its airport.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 July 2026
  • Enrollment is expected to continue growing this upcoming school year, said Rigg, though the archdiocese won’t know an exact number until early October.
    — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 25 July 2026
Definition of early
Adjective
  • Hugging Face, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral and Nvidia signed an open letter opposing premature restrictions on open-weight models, arguing that defenders need models with capabilities comparable to those attackers use.
    — Janakiram MSV, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • Overall, Moore believes that concerns about a decline in AVGO's market share to 50% or its eventual replacement seem premature.
    — TipRanks.com, CNBC, 26 July 2026
Definition of premature
Adjective
  • Some unexpected foods provide us with abundant amounts of leucine without having to resort to supplements.
    — Alessandra Signorelli, Vogue, 23 July 2026
  • And yet, when fate brings us together with someone in a completely unexpected way, our defenses collapse.
    — Ed Meza, Variety, 23 July 2026
Definition of unexpected
Adjective
  • In the meantime, if the sudden onset of the midsummer sports doldrums is anything to go by, the next World Cup can’t get here soon enough.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 24 July 2026
  • The sudden sight of a dish so delicious — or grotesque — the body briefly forgets its need for oxygen.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 24 July 2026
Definition of sudden
Adjective
  • Since the mysterious deaths of a husband and wife in the Medici family, a powerful Italian dynasty that ruled Florence and Tuscany almost uninterruptedly from 1434 to 1737, rumors have swirled about what led to the couple’s untimely demise.
    — Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
  • Plans for low volume road-car production were curtailed by Bruce’s untimely death while testing at Goodwood in 1970, and the original has been something of a dusty footnote until now.
    — Jason Barlow, Robb Report, 13 July 2026
Definition of untimely

Browse Nearby Words

precocial
precocious
precociously
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Precocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precocious. Accessed 30 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on precocious

Nglish: Translation of precocious for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of sultry

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All