: a boy or girl not yet 13 years old
1
: relating to or produced for children especially in the 9 to 12 year-old age group
preteen fashions
2
: being younger than 13
Examples of preteen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Curt Devine, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
The man set to become one of the world’s youngest artificial intelligence billionaires started his entrepreneurial journey as a bored preteen living in Los Angeles.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Catherine Bray, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
And Sabrina is sort of the Olivia Rodrigo of the past year as far as the preteen girl following and even older than that, going into 20-something-year-old women.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preteen
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Noun
As a preteen, Penelope met people online through the gaming site Roblox, which Sokolowski sought to monitor.
—Curt Devine, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
The man set to become one of the world’s youngest artificial intelligence billionaires started his entrepreneurial journey as a bored preteen living in Los Angeles.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
The main structuring absence in the film is Pansy (Deborah Mailman) and her distance from her two preteen children, Max (Hazel May Jackson) and Kid (Eli Hart).
—Catherine Bray, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
And Sabrina is sort of the Olivia Rodrigo of the past year as far as the preteen girl following and even older than that, going into 20-something-year-old women.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preteen
Cite this Entry
“Preteen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preteen. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
preteen
1 of 2 noun
pre·teen
ˈprē-ˈtēn 
: a boy or girl not yet 13 years old
preteen
2 of 2 adjective1
: relating to or produced for children especially in the 9 to 12 year-old age group
preteen fashions
2
: being younger than 13 years old
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