pubescent

From Middle French pubescent, from Latin pubescens (“to become hairy, downy, or an adult”).

• IPA^(key): /pjʊˈbɛs(ə)nt/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -ɛsənt

pubescent (comparative more pubescent, superlative most pubescent)

1. At or just after the age of puberty.
   • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xi

     […] the pubescent male brain isn't noted for its consistent engagement with reality […]

   • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 6 August 2020:

     The 18-year-old [Justin] Bieber can’t quite pull off the “adult” thing just yet: His voice may have dropped a bit since the days of “Baby,” but it still mostly registers as “angelic,” and veers toward a pubescent whine at times.

2. (botany, zoology) Covered with down or fine hairs.

• mid-pubescent
• peripubescent
• postpubescent
• prepubescent

• puberty, pubescence

pubescent (plural pubescents)

1. A person going through puberty.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pubescent

• puberulent

• Audio

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pubescent (feminine pubescente, masculine plural pubescents, feminine plural pubescentes)

1. pubescent

• “pubescent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

pūbēscent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of pūbēscō

Borrowed from French pubescent.

pubescent m or n (feminine singular pubescentă, masculine plural pubescenți, feminine and neuter plural pubescente)

1. pubescent