adult
adult — noun
- adultsingular
- adultsplural
1. someone who has finished growing — usually a person old enough to look after the
someone who has finished growing — usually a person old enough to look after themselves, choose where to live, and pay their own bills; the same word is also used for animals that have stopped growing.
Every adult on the flight to Lisbon paid for a hot meal.
countable singular: every adult
Anjali brought two adults and three children to the cooking class.
plural countable: two adults
By law in Taiwan, you are counted as an adult at the age of eighteen.
Soraya is the only adult in our reading group who still draws pictures in her notebook.
An adult elephant can drink more than two hundred litres of water in one day.
文法句型
adult + verb (singular/plural agreement)
用法筆記
Most often used of people; when used of animals, almost always paired with the animal noun (an adult tiger / an adult salmon).
常見錯誤
adult — adjective
- adultpositive
- more adultcomparative
- most adultsuperlative
1. having reached the size, age, or stage of life at which someone or something is
having reached the size, age, or stage of life at which someone or something is no longer young — used before a noun.
Sayaka has now reached her adult height of one hundred and sixty-five centimetres.
attributive: adult height
An adult salmon swims back up the river where it was born.
attributive: adult + animal noun
Most of our adult patients prefer the morning clinic on Tuesdays.
Andrés waited until he had grown his first adult tooth before smiling for the photo.
- grown
often paired with 'fully' for the same idea
- mature
scientific or formal, of bodies and plants
- full-grown
informal, often of animals
文法句型
adult + noun
用法筆記
Used before a noun (attributive). Cannot replace 'grown-up' in predicative position — say 'she is fully grown', not 'she is adult'.
常見錯誤
2. showing the calm, thoughtful behaviour we expect from someone old enough to take
showing the calm, thoughtful behaviour we expect from someone old enough to take responsibility — for example, talking through a problem instead of shouting.
Nora asked the children to be more adult about losing the football match.
be adult about + noun (predicative)
Selim made a very adult decision when he agreed to share the prize with his sister.
attributive: an adult decision
It was an adult conversation about money, and the twins listened without saying a word.
Élise apologised in front of her whole team, which everyone agreed was the adult thing to do.
- mature
more common for personality and judgement
- responsible
stresses taking ownership of outcomes
- level-headed
stresses staying calm under pressure
文法句型
be adult about + noun
adult + behaviour/decision
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is about behaviour, not body or age. Often appears with 'be ... about (a topic)' or with abstract nouns (decision, conversation, response).
常見錯誤
3. used as a polite label for films, magazines, websites, or shops whose pictures o
used as a polite label for films, magazines, websites, or shops whose pictures or stories involve sex and are sold only to people over a legal age.
The hotel television blocks adult channels unless a guest pays an extra fee at the front desk.
attributive: adult channels (media)
Eli refused to deliver leaflets for the new adult shop on the corner of Hill Street.
attributive: adult shop (venue)
Most adult websites ask visitors to confirm that they are over the age of eighteen.
The library does not stock adult magazines, even on the top shelf.
- X-rated
informal; from the old cinema rating
- pornographic
direct and clinical; stronger word
- explicit
broader — covers strong content beyond just sex
- family-friendly
safe for children too
文法句型
adult + media noun
adult + venue noun
用法筆記
A polite cover term: 'adult content', 'adult shop', 'adult website' all signal sexual material without naming it directly. Always attributive; you would not say 'the film is adult' in this meaning.
常見錯誤
adult — verb
- adultpresent simple I / you / we / they
- adults3rd person singular
- adulting-ing form
- adultedpast simple
1. to take care of the boring daily jobs we expect from a grown-up — paying bills,
to take care of the boring daily jobs we expect from a grown-up — paying bills, cleaning the kitchen, booking a doctor — especially when you find them hard or new.
Marta hates having to adult on Monday mornings before her first cup of coffee.
have to adult + time phrase
After paying the rent, the gas bill, and the dentist, Adisa felt she had adulted enough for one week.
past tense: had adulted enough
Christopher said he was too tired to adult and ordered noodles instead of cooking dinner.
Nobody warned Min that adulting would mean spending most of Saturday at the laundry.
- grow up
older, broader — also means 'mature' as a process
- be responsible
neutral, no informal humour
- slack off
informal; avoid responsibilities
文法句型
adult (used as gerund: adulting)
have to adult
用法筆記
Recent informal usage, most often heard in the gerund form 'adulting'. Subject is almost always a young person describing themselves; rarely used about other people in the third person.
常見錯誤
2. for a young animal or insect, to grow until it reaches the size and stage at whi
for a young animal or insect, to grow until it reaches the size and stage at which it can have babies of its own.
Most dragonflies adult within a single summer along the warm banks of the Mekong.
intransitive, biology register: subject + adults
The young salmon that Yara tagged last spring will adult somewhere off the coast of Norway.
future: will adult
In captivity, this rare frog usually adults two months later than in the wild.
Evelyn watched the tiny tadpole slowly adult in the back-garden pond over one warm summer.
文法句型
intransitive: subject + adults
用法筆記
Almost only seen in biology writing about animals or insects; not used of people in this sense. Distinguish from sense 1, which is informal and is about behaviour, not biological growth.