young adult

adjective

: of, relating to, or being a category of fiction that is primarily intended for adolescent readers

young adult fiction/literature

We live in an era of blockbuster young adult book series: Harry Potter, Twilight, now the Hunger Games.

—Leah Wilson

Early in her four-year career as the young adult librarian of the Huckaby Public Library, Veronica Garde observed that most of the staff had a sliding scale of courtesy toward library users, teenagers being given the shortest shrift.

—A. J. Anderson

—abbreviation YA

Examples of young adult in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The respiratory illnesses were particularly dangerous because the pope had to have part of one lung removed as a young adult because of a prior health crisis. —Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 6 Apr. 2025

Regretting You In 2019, Hoover published Regretting You, a contemporary romance and young adult crossover novel about the aftermath of a tragic car accident that killed two members of main character Morgan's family. —Jordana Comiter, People.com, 5 Apr. 2025

How Can Parents Discourage Digital Shoplifting? A key way to discourage digital shoplifting with your young adult is to talk to them about it—and make sure your conversations go beyond the surface. —Jana Pollack, Parents, 31 Mar. 2025

The second run of the breakout Prime Video young adult series wrapped filming in September last year, and with Season 1 launching in May 2024 the gap between the two will be relatively substantial. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 3 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for young adult

• catapult
• subadult
• consult
• exult
• insult
• iseult
• occult
• result
• cult