young

views updated

young / yəng/ • adj. (young·er , young·est ) having lived or existed for only a short time: a young girl| [as pl. n.] (the young) the young are amazingly resilient. ∎  not as old as the norm or as would be expected: more people were dying young. ∎  relating to, characteristic of, or consisting of young people: young love the Young Communist League. ∎  immature or inexperienced: she's very young for her age. ∎  having the qualities popularly associated with young people, such as enthusiasm and optimism: all those who are young at heart. ∎  (the Younger) used to denote the younger of two people of the same name: Pitt the Younger. ∎  (younger) Scot. denoting the heir of a landed commoner: Hugh Magnus Macleod, younger of Macleod.• n. [treated as pl.] offspring, esp. of an animal before or soon after birth: this species carries its young.PHRASES: with young (of an animal) pregnant.DERIVATIVES: young·ish / ˈyəngish/ adj.

More From encyclopedia.com