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preadolescence

noun

Definition of preadolescencenext
as in adolescence

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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 preadolescence Instead, the rats concerned acted normally until given their preadolescence doses of THC. — The Economist, 19 Oct. 2019 Yet there’s no better example of the genius of Big Mouth—a comedy that nails the sophomoric physical humor of preadolescence but whose hilarious portrait of puberty is really a mirror held up to adult sexuality—more than what follows. — Judy Berman, Time, 4 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preadolescence
  1. adolescence
  2. boyhood
  3. girlhood
Noun
  • The novel explores the challenges of making a life both within and without the arts, and how that unfolds from adolescence into adulthood.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The two had known each other since adolescence, and what began as an effort to document his musical comeback evolved into an intimate chronicle of addiction, mental-health struggles, friendship and loss.
    — SPIN Staff, SPIN, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of adolescence
Noun
  • Coutinho had been without a club since leaving boyhood club Vasco da Gama.
    — Leon Imber, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • That apocalyptic day has been imprinted on your memory since boyhood.
    — Ken Frydman, New York Daily News, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of boyhood
Noun
  • Growing up, pop culture’s representations of girlhood included a blonde Wakefield twin from Sweet Valley High, a post-makeover Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, and a big-breasted bombshell manufactured by some dorks with a Commodore 64.
    — Lisa Whittington-Hill, Longreads, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The global scope of this novelistic narrative reach only made my sense of my American girlhood more powerful.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of girlhood

Browse Nearby Words

preachy
preadolescence
preadolescences
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Cite this Entry

“Preadolescence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preadolescence. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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