juvenile
adjective/ˈdʒuːvənaɪl/
/ˈdʒuːvənl/
- [only before noun] (formal or law) relating to young people who are not yet adults
- juvenile crime/employment
- juvenile offenders
- What can be done to help these juvenile delinquents turn away from crime?
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- (formal) relating to young birds and animals
- the prey of juvenile owls
- (disapproving) silly and more typical of a child than an adult synonym childish
- juvenile behaviour
- Don't be so juvenile!
Word Originearly 17th cent.: from Latin juvenilis, from juvenis ‘young, a young person’.
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