precocious

adjective

pre·​co·​cious pri-ˈkō-shəs 

1

: exceptionally early in development or occurrence

precocious puberty

2

: exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age

a precocious child

precociously adverb

precociousness noun

precocity

pri-ˈkä-sə-tē 

noun

Did you know?

Precocious got its start in Latin when the prefix prae-, meaning "ahead of," was combined with the verb coquere, meaning "to cook" or "to ripen." Together, they formed the adjective praecox, which meant "early ripening" or "premature." By the mid-1600s, English speakers had turned praecox into precocious and were using it especially to describe plants that produced blossoms before their leaves came out. Within decades, precocious was also being used to describe humans who developed skills or talents sooner than others typically did. Pop music lovers may recall the lyric "She’s precocious!" from "Bette Davis Eyes," although the song itself was something of a late bloomer: originally released in 1974 by Jackie DeShannon (and cowritten by DeShannon and Donna Weiss), it didn’t become a hit until Kim Carnes’ Grammy Award-winning version was released in 1981.

Synonyms

• early
• inopportune
• premature
• unseasonable
• untimely

Examples of precocious in a Sentence

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

She was a precocious child who could read before she went to school.

A precocious musician, he was giving concerts when he was seven.

See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s a rundown of how the show handles them: What to know First things first: What about the precocious kid? —Sophia Nguyen, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2023

In the early years of his fame, DiCaprio was candid with journalists, coming off as a charming prankster and precocious cut-up. —Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023

As a precocious reader, one year my mom sent me with a book about Darwin’s expeditions. —Lisa Niver, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2023

Coates picked on a fellow (and innocent) inmate in Girls in Prison (1956) and showed off her comedy chops as the mother of a precocious teenager in the 1958 Desilu sitcom This Is Alice. —Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2023

In 1971, some politically precocious students at University High School in West Los Angeles founded a radical student newspaper called the Red Tide. —Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2023

Netflix’s spooky comedy Wednesday brings Charles Addams’ iconic and idiosyncratic characters back to television, this time as seen through the eyes of the Addams family’s precocious and morbid daughter. —Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Aug. 2023

Particularly affected is his precocious seven-year-old son Bindray who is suddenly exposed to a world containing Coke, sunglasses, mobile phones, televisions and hip hop. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Oct. 2023

Viewers are given a window into the lives of Jessie’s friends, Steve (Nic Sampson) and Sarah (Lola-Rose Maxwell), who are exhausted parents to a precocious toddler. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 27 Sep. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Latin praecoc-, praecox early ripening, precocious, from prae- + coquere to cook — more at cook

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

precocious

adjective

pre·​co·​cious pri-ˈkō-shəs 

: showing the qualities or abilities of an adult at an unusually early age

a precocious child

precociously adverb

precociousness noun

precocity

pri-ˈkäs-ət-ē 

noun

Etymology

from Latin praecoc-, praecox "ripening early, ripening before its time," from prae- "ahead of, before" and coquere "to ripen, cook"

Word Origin

The process of growing from a child to an adult is sometimes thought of as being like the slow ripening of fruit. That was the image which gave us the word precocious. Like many English words, precocious comes from Latin. The Latin prefix prae-, meaning "ahead of, before," and the verb coquere, meaning "to ripen, cook," were combined to form the adjective praecoc-, praecox, which meant "ripening early or before its time." The Latin word was first used to describe certain plants and fruits. In time it also came to refer to other things that mature before their usual time.

Medical Definition

precocious

adjective

pre·​co·​cious pri-ˈkō-shəs 

1

: exceptionally early in development or occurrence

precocious puberty

2

: exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age

precociously adverb

precociousness noun