Sweet Sixteen

noun

variants or less commonly sweet sixteen

plural Sweet Sixteens also sweet sixteens

: a celebration marking usually a girl's sixteenth birthday and her transition to adulthood

Bigger, flashier and costing parents more than ever, the 21st-century Sweet Sixteen has become as elaborate as a wedding …

—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Long before the All-American Sweet Sixteen parties hit the birthday planning circuit, the Latin community was celebrating the 15th birthday of their young female family members with the tradition-filled quinceañera.

—Tara Bradley Connell

also : a sixteenth birthday

… ring in her sweet sixteen … the old fashion way—with a trip to the DMV to get her driver's license.

—Colleen Kratofil

Both beginning their careers before they could celebrate their sweet sixteens, the songstresses can be credited for creating the blueprint many of our R&B faves follow today.

—Taylor Bryant

Examples of Sweet Sixteen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those will be a few of the players who will be relied on with hopes of taking Missouri to its first Sweet Sixteen of Gates’ tenure — and the program’s first since 2009. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 19 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above