1
as in boyhood
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2
as in maidenhood
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Recent Examples of girlhood
Those feelings, comfort, and sense of girlhood that the dolls can spark does not have to go away just because a person grows up.
—
Kate Perez, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
Such ambition will drive Hannelius to the next phase of adult life post-girlhood.
—Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
This year’s nostalgia for Jane Austen interiors (which has also dovetailed with the return of the canopy bed and is not unrelated to the resurgence of perpetual girlhood) has put candlelit lighting back on the map, and retailers are meeting the moment with modern iterations of the antique.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 17 Dec. 2025
An explicit act of transcending her girlhood, and welcoming new parts of herself.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 14 Dec. 2025
Childlore, a staple of boy- and girlhood for centuries, has become tenuous and fragile.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
Now, her latest hairstyle marks the inevitable moment in Black girlhood where Blue Ivy is starting to come into her own.
—Essence, 11 Dec. 2025
In an English girls boarding school, two teenage best friends grapple with the challenges of girlhood — friendship, boys, studies, and growing up — and embark on their school project, falling in love.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 10 Dec. 2025
Next came Unity—conceived, portentously, in the small Canadian town of Swastika—who, outdoing her sister, developed a girlhood crush on Hitler and moved to Germany to serve the Nazis.
—Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
Kate Perez, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
Such ambition will drive Hannelius to the next phase of adult life post-girlhood.
—Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
This year’s nostalgia for Jane Austen interiors (which has also dovetailed with the return of the canopy bed and is not unrelated to the resurgence of perpetual girlhood) has put candlelit lighting back on the map, and retailers are meeting the moment with modern iterations of the antique.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 17 Dec. 2025
An explicit act of transcending her girlhood, and welcoming new parts of herself.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 14 Dec. 2025
Childlore, a staple of boy- and girlhood for centuries, has become tenuous and fragile.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
Now, her latest hairstyle marks the inevitable moment in Black girlhood where Blue Ivy is starting to come into her own.
—Essence, 11 Dec. 2025
In an English girls boarding school, two teenage best friends grapple with the challenges of girlhood — friendship, boys, studies, and growing up — and embark on their school project, falling in love.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 10 Dec. 2025
Next came Unity—conceived, portentously, in the small Canadian town of Swastika—who, outdoing her sister, developed a girlhood crush on Hitler and moved to Germany to serve the Nazis.
—Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for girlhood
Noun
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Fermin came close to leaving his boyhood club in the summer, when Premier League giant Chelsea was eager to acquire his services.—
Tom Sanderson,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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Rocco Reitz, now the club captain and a boyhood fan who became a Gladbach member the day he was born, was terrific.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Even so, the belief in Mary’s life-long maidenhood is widely shared by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and by some Lutherans.—
Rebecca Coffey,
Forbes,
3 Mar. 2021
Noun
-
Many of us learn this bias in childhood.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
2 Feb. 2026
-
With his car in the shop, Audrey drives Eli to work and school and the two grow closer as Audrey comes to grips with an abusive childhood and Eli wrestles with his shady past.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Her writing often returned to her childhood and adolescence in Formby, a few miles north of Liverpool.—
Christopher Tayler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Elements of punk, adolescence, and glam-rock all infiltrated the runway.—
Brett F. Braley-Palko,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Girlhood.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/girlhood. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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