grownup

[ grohn-uhp ]
See synonyms for grownup on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a mature, fully grown person; adult.

Origin of grownup

1
First recorded in 1805–15; noun use of verb phrase grow up

Other definitions for grown-up (2 of 2)

grown-up
[ grohn-uhp ]

adjective
  1. having reached the age of maturity.

  2. characteristic of or suitable for adults: grown-up behavior; grown-up fiction.

Origin of grown-up

2
First recorded in 1625–35; adj. use of verb phrase grow up

Other words from grown-up

  • grown-upness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use grownup in a sentence

  • There may be no more than innocent imitation of grownups, as the following case shows.

  • Mr. Manheim went here and there, shaking hands with the grownups and joking with the boys.

  • There set the three other grownups, holdin' their hands over their ears, with pained lookin' faces.

    The Confessions of a Daddy | Ellis Parker Butler
  • The next window to the right overlooked the part of the terrace where the "grownups" of the family used to sit before luncheon.

    Childhood | Leo Tolstoy
  • To the small boy looking round the room it seemed as though twenty awful grownups were waiting in a dead silence to eat him up.

British Dictionary definitions for grown-up

grown-up

adjective
  1. having reached maturity; adult

  2. suitable for or characteristic of an adult

noun
  1. an adult

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012