as in boy
a male person who has not yet reached adulthood
the young boxer looked like a mere stripling next to his larger, more seasoned opponent
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stripling
More important still, thrilling these ultra-cultured striplings means winning over mom and dad, too.
—
Devorah Lev-Tov, Robb Report, 25 June 2023
In Dunst’s hands, Antoinette is naturally happy, an excitable stripling full of life — the sort of protagonist you’d root for simply because the performer inhabiting her is so agreeable.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2021
Best-selling author Margaret George has just published a novel repackaging the Roman emperor Nero, whose name has evoked mayhem and recreational pyromania for the past 2,000 years, as a misunderstood stripling.
—Joe Queenan, WSJ, 5 May 2017
Devorah Lev-Tov, Robb Report, 25 June 2023
In Dunst’s hands, Antoinette is naturally happy, an excitable stripling full of life — the sort of protagonist you’d root for simply because the performer inhabiting her is so agreeable.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2021
Best-selling author Margaret George has just published a novel repackaging the Roman emperor Nero, whose name has evoked mayhem and recreational pyromania for the past 2,000 years, as a misunderstood stripling.
—Joe Queenan, WSJ, 5 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stripling
Noun
-
In jail, some say lads want to be either a footballer or a drug dealer.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
-
Three other local lads have benefited from the high-tech training facility funded by owner-chairman Tony Bloom and opened in 2014, three years after Brighton opened their 32,000-seater Amex Stadium.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Not even teenagers yet, Ebel’s sons would be taking ground balls and shagging in the outfield during batting practice before the start of Dodger games.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 July 2025
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The teenagers and young adults who volunteer at The Awareness Project were also upset about the likelihood that the nonprofit will close.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 July 2025
Noun
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This is especially good for those staple items kids are always using – notebooks, binders, folders, colored pencils, pens and more.—
Kaitlyn Keegan,
Hartford Courant,
12 July 2025
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Does a person with this much contempt for texts by day insist on reading aloud to his kids at night?—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
12 July 2025
Noun
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The World Health Organization says that 81 percent of adolescents worldwide do not get enough physical activity, noting that rates of sedentary behavior in young people tend to rise as their country develops economically.—
Henry Abbott,
The Atlantic,
12 July 2025
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Another study said that the monthly antidepressant dispensing rate for adolescents and young adults increased to 66.3 percent between 2016 and 2022 — a number that jumped by 17 percent per month in 2020 alone.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stripling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stripling. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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