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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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 Within the walls of her home, daily life unfolds – arguments, laughter, children growing up – while outside, gang shootings and deaths continue at a steady pace. —

Lise Pedersen, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026 The prosecutor said Mann would testify about Weinstein’s intense interest in her upbringing, asking her questions about growing up poor in a dairy farm town in Washington State, and being raised by an evangelical family that at times lived in a mobile home. —

Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026 On Tuesday, Donny took to Instagram to share some thoughts about growing up and performing alongside Alan in the Sixties and Seventies. —

Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2026 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for growing up

Verb

After Hawks center Tony Bradley was called for an offensive foul for setting a hard screen on Alvarado, the veteran McCollum got into it with the scrappy Knicks guard, jawing face-to-face in a moment that underscored the growing chippiness in the series.

— Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026
Here are the best garlic companion plants that have similar growing needs.

— Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Apr. 2026