youth

noun, often attributive

\ ˈyüth

plural youths\ ˈyüt͟hz

, ˈyüths

Definition of youth

1a : the time of life when one is young especially : the period between childhood and maturity

b : the early period of existence, growth, or development

2a : a young person especially : a young male between adolescence and maturity

b : young persons or creatures —usually plural in construction

3 : the quality or state of being youthful : youthfulness

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about youth

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Synonyms for youth

Synonyms

boy, boychick (or boychik), boyo [Irish], callant [chiefly Scottish], lad, laddie, nipper, shaveling, shaver, sonny, stripling, tad

Examples of youth in a Sentence

She had a troubled youth. He spent his youth in the Midwest. He got into a lot of trouble in his youth. a generation trying to recapture lost youth when the industry was still in its youth Four youths are suspected of starting the fire.

Recent Examples on the Web

Early proposals echoed the science fiction that inspired engineers like von Braun in his youth. — Alex Hollings, Popular Mechanics, "The Saturn V Story: From Nazi Roots to America's Moon Rocket," 6 Feb. 2019 The Superintendent of Criminal Investigations, Hideo Nishimura, was tall and even-featured and had probably been handsome in his youth, but the years at the desk showed in his growing corpulence and a certain slowness in breaking inertia. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Two unlikely cops are paired up to solve murders in a war-torn Tokyo in Ninth Step Station," 8 Dec. 2018 Today’s action helps families and our youth in detention while setting up future generations for success rather than incarceration. — Christianna Silva, Teen Vogue, "$90 Million in Debt Owed for Juvenile Detention Fees Was Canceled by Los Angeles County," 23 Oct. 2018 Without trying to ruin your youth, here are the top moments celebrities and Cribs lied to us. — Danielle Tullo, House Beautiful, "5 Times MTV Cribs Totally Lied To Us," 27 Aug. 2018 Their story appeared in the Aug. 19, 2008, edition of the Miami Herald, setting in motion a series of events that ultimately would lead to the discovery of secret graves on the remote North Florida campus, and the notorious youth prison's closure. — Carol Marbin Miller, miamiherald, "A victim of vile abuse at Florida reform school, he spent his life fighting for justice," 10 July 2018 America’s youth, whose introduction to computing in increasingly in the guise of Google’s Chromebooks. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Do we need another stripped-down version of Windows? Microsoft apparently thinks so," 3 Dec. 2018 My family’s bikes live in my living room, because my husband has had every part of his bike (as well as the whole shebang) stolen off the street in his youth. — Alexandra Lange, Curbed, "Let’s organize the city outside our front door with as much care as we do our homes," 30 Aug. 2018 Getting older has really blunted the self-consciousness of my youth, in a good way. — Abby Langer, SELF, "12 Actually Really Good Things That Have Come With Getting Older," 13 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'youth.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.