What does adultness mean?
Adultness is a rare noun denoting the state or quality of being an adult — the condition of full maturity, whether physical, mental, or legal, as opposed to childhood. Where 'adulthood' names the period of life one occupies after reaching maturity, 'adultness' can also capture the quality of acting in a grown-up way, allowing it to describe mature behavior even in someone who is young in years. The word derives from 'adult', which English took from the Latin 'adultus', the past participle of 'adolescere', meaning to grow up — the same root that gives us 'adolescent' and 'adolescence'. In modern usage adultness is uncommon and carries a slightly formal, old-fashioned flavor; writers more typically reach for 'maturity' or 'adulthood'. It remains useful when precision matters: distinguishing the state of being adult from merely inhabiting an age bracket.
nounThe state or quality of being an adult; the condition of having reached full physical, mental, or legal maturity.
- The state or condition of being an adult; full maturity as opposed to childhood.
- The quality of behaving in a mature, responsible manner characteristic of an adult.
"Her calm handling of the crisis revealed an adultness that belied her twenty-three years."
"Taking on the mortgage was a step into true adultness."
"His measured response to the criticism showed a level of adultness his peers lacked."
Virtually never used in the plural; the word almost always appears in the singular since it denotes an abstract quality.
"The novel traces its characters through successive stages of their adultnesses, from first independence to settled middle age."
English already gave us 'adulthood' for the stage of life — 'adultness' survives as the rarer cousin reserved for the quality of acting grown-up, whatever your age.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does adultness come from?
Adultness is formed by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ness' to 'adult', a word English borrowed in the early 16th century from Latin 'adultus', the past participle of 'adolescere' ('to grow up, come to maturity'). It therefore shares its ultimate root with 'adolescent' and 'adolescence', and more distantly with words of growth and aging such as 'senescent'. The compound 'adultness' arose later than 'adulthood' and never achieved its currency, remaining a marginal term in the language.
How adultness is actually used
A rare and somewhat formal word, far less common than 'adulthood' or 'maturity'. It is most often encountered in older texts or deliberate stylistic choices where a writer wants to distinguish the quality of being adult from the life stage itself.
Easily confused with adultness
Adulthood refers to the period or stage of life during which one is an adult, while adultness refers to the quality or state of being adult-like and can describe mature behavior at any age.