preadolescent

[ pree-ad-l-es-uhnt ]

adjective

1. of or relating to preadolescence or a preadolescent.

noun

1. a person who is in the preadolescent years.

preadolescent

/ ˌpriːædəˈlɛsənt /

noun

1. a person who has not yet reached adolescence

adjective

1. of or relating to the period before adolescence

Word History and Origins

Origin of preadolescent¹

First recorded in 1905–10; pre- + adolescent

Example Sentences

In their forgiveness journals, one preadolescent from Northern Ireland wrote: “We need to learn this to be friends.”

From Washington Post

The story amounts to an extended pun on the title, making a metaphor out of the stirrings of preadolescent desire.

From Los Angeles Times

In preadolescent children, Fortuna says, depression may reveal itself as touchiness and irritability rather than sadness.

From New York Times

“On Sugarland,” in previews at New York Theater Workshop, follows a preadolescent Sadie as she comes to terms with her mother’s death in combat.

From New York Times

I strongly object to Ruth Whippman’s assertion that “there is a bizarre absence of fully realized human beings” in the fictional worlds of male toddlers and preadolescent boys.

From New York Times