subteen

[ suhb-teen ]

noun

1. a young person approaching the teens teen teens or adolescence.
2. a range of even-numbered garment sizes, chiefly from 6 to 14, designed for girls under 13.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designed for subteens:

   subteen clothes.

subteen

/ ˌsʌbˈtiːn /

noun

1. rare.
   a young person who has not yet become a teenager

Word History and Origins

Origin of subteen¹

First recorded in 1950–55; sub- + teen ¹

Example Sentences

He's a writer who likes to pack lots of lively characters, talk and unpremeditated activity into relatively tight spaces, thereby creating the kind of lifelike untidiness, fractiousness and believable goofiness that American movie comedy, with its stress on easily summarizable concepts and subteen gag writing, can only dream about.

From Time Magazine Archive

They range from subteen "peewees" to as many as 13,000 hard-core killers.

From Time Magazine Archive

"The trick there," says the wily subteen, "is to accept a new can when anybody offers and let your old one get drunk by somebody else."

From Time Magazine Archive

The two movies about subteen hookers did not, as some people feared, lead to a succession of increasingly pornographic feature films starring moppets.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bubble-gum music is the latest confection created for the subteen market, which accounts for about one out of every four single records sold.

From Time Magazine Archive