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 duo, known for fictional young adult content on YouTube, plans to keep leveling up their material while keeping it native to the internet. — Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Chris Simonsen is the CEO of Orangewood Foundation, a leading provider of youth and young adult programs and services in Orange County. — Chris Simonsen, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026

Gabrielle got her first job at the restaurant, tasked with putting olives on top of salads, whereas a young adult Katerina worked in the main office, handling reservations, table seating, and house accounts. — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 7 July 2026

Dark academia fiction is also often entangled with other genres such as fantasy, thriller, romance, and young adult fiction. — Sophia Zhang, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above