full-fledged

American  

[fool-flejd] / ˈfʊlˈflɛdʒd /

adjective

1. of full rank or standing.

   a full-fledged professor.

2. fully developed.

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full-fledged British  

adjective

1. See fully fledged

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Etymology

Origin of full-fledged

First recorded in 1880–85

Explanation

Something that's full-fledged is completely developed, or fully qualified. A full-fledged meal, as far as your mom's concerned, might include meat, potatoes, and a vegetable. Things that are whole or complete are full-fledged — a full-fledged case of the flu isn't just a few sniffles and coughs, but requires you to lie in bed with a fever for several days. A full-fledged war involves two countries with a conflict deep enough to inspire violent clashes on both sides. The fledge part of full-fledged comes from the Old English -flycge, "having the feathers" or "fit to fly."

Example Sentences

So, I always recommend using the full-fledged app unless you have a specific use case.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

So he partnered with a group of engineers to develop a proprietary dataset on a controlled soundstage, similar to a full-fledged production, and began building its first AI model.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

Here’s what you would get if you chose to pay $200 more for the full-fledged iPhone 17:

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

Tiny samples of radioactive material have twice been collected under a trial project using special tools, but full-fledged extractions are yet to take place.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

By the end of senior year, he was finally single, and our friendship evolved into full-fledged coupledom.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi