young
A1Neutral to formal; universally common.
Definition
Meaning
Having lived or existed for only a short time; not old.
Relating to or characteristic of youth; inexperienced or new to a role or field; earlier in a sequence or development.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily an adjective. Can be used as a mass noun ('the young') to refer to young people collectively. Often carries positive connotations of vitality, potential, and freshness, but can imply inexperience or immaturity in certain contexts.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. Both use 'young' identically. Minor differences in noun phrases (e.g., 'young offender' vs. 'juvenile delinquent').
Connotations
Similar in both varieties. Slightly more formal in noun use 'the young' (common in news/journalism).
Frequency
Extremely high and identical frequency in both corpora.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[young + N][the + young][be + too/very/quite + young][young + and + Adj (e.g., young and ambitious)]Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Young at heart”
- “Young blood”
- “Young Turk”
- “Not get any younger”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to new companies ('young startups'), early-career employees ('young talent'), or emerging markets.
Academic
Used in demographics ('the young population'), psychology ('young adulthood'), and biology ('young specimens').
Everyday
Universal descriptor for age of people, animals, plants, and things ('a young dog', 'a young cheese').
Technical
In geology ('young rock formations'), computing ('a young branch in version control'), or wine ('young wine').
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- (Rare as verb; archaic/dialectal) Not in modern standard use.
American English
- (Rare as verb; archaic/dialectal) Not in modern standard use.
adverb
British English
- (Rare as adverb) Not standard; use 'youngly' is obsolete.
American English
- (Rare as adverb) Not standard; use 'youngly' is obsolete.
adjective
British English
- She has two young children at primary school.
- The company is looking for young, dynamic graduates.
- This cheese is best enjoyed young.
American English
- He became CEO at a remarkably young age.
- We invested in several young tech startups.
- The forest has many young pine trees.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- My brother is very young.
- The cat has three young kittens.
- She looks young for her age.
- Young people today use technology differently.
- He started playing football when he was young.
- It's a young company, but it's growing fast.
- The programme aims to support young entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Despite his young years, he demonstrated remarkable wisdom.
- Geologically speaking, these volcanic islands are quite young.
- The novel explores the dissonance between the young idealist's aspirations and harsh reality.
- Politicians often vie for the votes of the young, who are frequently disenfranchised.
- The vineyard produces a bold, young red that challenges conventional palates.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine the word 'YOUNG' being shouted by a YOUNG child at a birthday party: "YO! U N Gotta be kidding me, I'm not old!"
Conceptual Metaphor
LIFE IS A JOURNEY: 'Young' is the early part of the journey. TIME IS A RESOURCE: 'Young' means having a lot of the resource left.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct one-to-one mapping with Russian 'молодой' for inanimate objects or concepts where English might use 'new', 'early', or 'recent' (e.g., 'a young democracy' is not 'молодая демократия' in all contexts).
- Russian 'юный' is more poetic/formal than the neutral English 'young'.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'young' with 'years' incorrectly (e.g., *'He is 20 young' instead of 'He is 20 years young' as a fixed idiomatic inversion).
- Overusing 'young' as a noun ('the youngs') – correct form is 'the young' or 'young people'.
Practice
Quiz
In which phrase is 'young' used metaphorically?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it can describe animals, plants, objects, or concepts in an early stage (e.g., a young nation, young wine, a young tree).
'Young' refers to actual age. 'Youthful' describes characteristics typical of youth, such as energy or appearance, which can belong to someone of any age.
No. The correct collective noun is 'the young' (treated as plural) or 'young people'. 'Youngs' is non-standard.
Yes, but only collectively as 'the young' (meaning young people). It is not a countable noun (*a young).
Collections
Part of a collection
Basic Adjectives
A1 · 46 words · Fundamental describing words used every day.
Family Members
A1 · 44 words · Words for family, people and relationships at home.
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