juvenile

Everyday

1. A juvenile is a young animal or person, not yet an adult. tree →
2. Juvenile means to do with young people, as in a juvenile court. tree →
3. Juvenile also means childish or silly in a way that seems immature (said about grown-ups or older children). tree →

In the lessons

In science, juvenile animals often look different from adults (juvenile gulls are brown). In law, a juvenile is someone under the adult age. Calling behaviour «juvenile» is a criticism.

Examples

• The juvenile eagle had brown feathers. tree →
• Juveniles go to a special court. tree →
• Stop that — it's so juvenile! tree →
• The aquarium had juvenile sharks. tree →
• Juvenile fish hide in the seaweed. tree →
• Pulling faces at the teacher was juvenile. tree →

Note

Pronounced «JOO-vuh-nile». Formal or scientific word for «young».