Synonyms of adult

adult 1 of 2

noun

as in grown-up

a fully grown person

at the beach, the adults sat under broad umbrellas while the children splashed in the water

Synonyms & Similar Words

• grown-up
• elder
• senior citizen
• oldster
• middle-ager
• ancient
• graybeard
• old-timer
• senior
• gaffer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• child
• kid
• toddler
• infant
• cub
• tyke
• tot
• moppet
• baby
• adolescent
• youth
• juvenile
• bairn
• tad
• youngster
• minor
• teen
• teenager
• youngling
• preteen
• tween
• teenybopper
• teener
• preteen-ager

adult

2 of 2

adjective

ə-ˈdəlt 

1

as in mature

relating to or typical of adults; displaying proper maturity

an adult reaction to the issue

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mature
• grown-up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• adolescent
• immature
• infantile
• childish
• kiddish

2

as in pornographic

dealing in or with explicitly sexual material

an adult magazine

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pornographic
• mature
• erotic
• sexy
• suggestive
• X-rated
• hard-core
• porny
• bedroom
• gross
• indecent
• crude
• lustful
• obscene
• lascivious
• filthy
• kinky
• soft-core
• lewd
• bawdy
• coarse
• prurient
• ribald
• smutty
• salacious
• naughty
• dirty
• unprintable
• vulgar
• perverted
• immodest
• racy
• unbecoming
• indecorous
• earthy
• foul
• wicked
• salty
• profane
• wanton
• nasty
• debasing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• clean
• Victorian
• puritanical
• prudish
• G-rated
• proper
• prim
• straitlaced
• priggish
• correct
• decent
• polite
• genteel
• decorous
• seemly

3

as in matured

fully grown or developed

insects that are butterflies in their adult stage

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mature
• matured
• ripe
• older
• aged
• aging
• full-fledged
• full-blown
• old
• ripened
• golden
• long-lived
• mellow

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• young
• juvenile
• adolescent
• youthful
• immature
• green
• unripe
• burgeoning
• youngish
• flowering
• flourishing
• unripened
• blooming
• unfinished
• undeveloped
• unformed
• blossoming
• unfledged

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of adult

Noun

Siblings have group chats too, and children are infinitely more perceptive than adults tend to give them credit for. — Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2026

The benefit applies to one qualifying child per insured adult, provided the child's insured trip cost doesn't exceed the adult's. — Matt Richardson, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026

Adjective

For many readers and critics, the perception was that Mansfield was almost writing children’s fiction, since most of her stories are deceptively easy to read, although her themes are entirely adult in both form and content. — Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025

Justin Vernon’s midwestern charm and pliable falsetto has always endeared him to indie-rock dads raised on Michael McDonald, but starting a family himself between Bon Iver projects turned this year’s Sable, Fable into a deep examination of the fatherly adult contemporary figure in popular music. — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025