youthful

youthful, juvenile, puerile, boyish, virgin, virginal, maiden are comparable when they mean relating to or characteristic of one who is between childhood and adulthood; although their basic meaning is the same, they are seldom interchangeable because of widely differing implications and applications.

Youthful suggests the possession or the appearance of youth, or of qualities appropriate to youth; it can be employed laudatorily or in extenuation

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youthful aspirations

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youthful indiscretions

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Juvenile often suggests immaturity of mind or body or lack of experience; it is applied especially to what is suited to or designed for boys and girls in their early teens

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juvenile dances

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Juvenile fiction

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Puerile is applied especially to acts and utterances which, though excusable in a boy or girl or characteristic of immaturity, would be unpardonable or out of character in an adult; the word finds its commonest use in depreciatory reference to acts or utterances of the mature

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what seemed sapient discourse in 1940 is rather puerile chatter now—G. W. Johnson

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time and again the suspicion wounds us that we are puerile people, fetal minds, illegible tapestries— Peggy Bennett

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Boyish (compare mannish under MALE), though referred commonly to boys, is sometimes used in reference to girls or their clothes, appearance, or qualities. The term often suggests some of the engaging qualities or the physical attractiveness of normal, vigorous boys

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a boyish smile

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boyish charm

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boyish enthusiasm

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Virgin and virginal, though referable usually to girls, in the extended use in which they suggest the freshness, innocence, purity, and inexperience that are associated with youthful virginity are applicable also to boys

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that beautiful mixture of manly courage and virginal modesty— Farrar

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he smiled like a girl, or like clear winter skies, a virginal light making stars of his eyes— Lindsay

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Maiden in its extended sense carries an even stronger suggestion than virgin or virginal of youthful lack of experience; it also implies that one's qualities (as virtue, worth, competence, or strength) have not been tried or tested

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a maiden speech

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his maiden effort at authorship

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Analogous words: *immature, unmatured

Antonyms: aged

Contrasted words: *mature, matured, grown-up