GROWING UP Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

growing up

verb

Definition of growing up next

present participle of grow up

as in growing

to become mature everyone has to grow up at some point in their lives

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of growing up While growing up, in the San Fernando Valley, Levin saw fame’s capacity to protect certain people from the consequences of the law. —

Paula Mejía, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2026 Wu-Tang definitely inspired generations, growing up, listening to them on the radio. —

Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026 The kid in question was Dustin Pedroia, who Murphy coached at Arizona State from 2002-04, and who Durbin idolized growing up. —

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 7 Apr. 2026 Brzustewicz was a star in minor hockey growing up who really returned to that form in his final year of junior after a bit of a winding road. —

Scott Wheeler, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2026 How a childhood experience shaped Lucas' views As a child growing up in Ohio, Lucas experienced a series of events that would shape her views on employment and civil rights. —

Andrea Hsu, NPR, 31 Mar. 2026 Those back-in-my-day clichés about growing up in midcentury America — walking a mile to school, working a paper route, playing outside until the streetlights clicked on — paint a fairly accurate picture of a kind of American childhood that’s all but vanished. —

Stephen Johnson, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026 Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment are in this curious predicament, as the two actresses played BFFs growing up in the Disney hit Hannah Montana. —

Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 24 Mar. 2026 Blume’s candid stories about puberty and adolescence continue to resonate with readers decades after publication, offering relatable insight into growing up. —

Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for growing up

Verb

The stopout population keeps growing overall, even as annual stopouts have declined and reenrollment has increased, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
One of those is Tony Mellow, who, at age 70, has been growing fruits and vegetables his entire life on family land in Santa Clara County.

— John Ramos, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026