adulthood
Life after eighteen
Adulthood is the state of being fully grown—physically mature and legally responsible.
The transition from childhood through adolescence to adulthood happens gradually, though law draws sharp lines: She reached adulthood at eighteen.
Adulthood carries connotations of independence, responsibility, and self-sufficiency: The responsibilities of adulthood hit him hard.
Required responsibilities
- dutiesRequired tasks or charges
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
- reliabilityConsistent, predictable performance
- stewardshipResponsible care of entrusted things
decision-making · consequences · bills · taxes · insurance · mortgage · voting · contracts
Independent decision-making capacity
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- self-relianceDepending on oneself alone
- self-supportSustaining oneself unaided
lease · roommates · furnishing · cooking · laundry
Gradual functional decline with age
- wrinklesSurface lines from folding
- geriatricsMedicine for the elderly
- retirementLeaving the workforce permanently
- elderlyAdvanced in age
senior · graying · menopause · andropause · arthritis · pension · centenarian · octogenarian
Good judgment from experience
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
- growthIncrease in size
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- maturationProcess of becoming complete
understanding · insight · judgment · prudence · discernment · perspective · composure · self-awareness
Paid position of employment
- professionTrained occupational field
- employmentPaid occupation status
- occupationOne's regular paid work
- vocationDedicated career path
workplace · salary · promotion · resume · ambition · industry · corporate · manager
Infant's emergence from womb
- breastfeedingLactation-based infant nourishment
- pediatricianPhysician for children
- cribSmall bed with rails
- strollerWheeled infant conveyance
maternity · paternity · nursery · toddler · homework · babysitter · custody · adoption
obligations
Required responsibilities
- dutiesRequired tasks or charges
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
- reliabilityConsistent, predictable performance
stewardship · decision-making · consequences · bills · taxes · insurance · mortgage · voting · contracts · dependents
autonomy
Independent decision-making capacity
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- self-relianceDepending on oneself alone
self-support · lease · roommates · furnishing · cooking · laundry
senescence
Gradual functional decline with age
- wrinklesSurface lines from folding
- geriatricsMedicine for the elderly
- retirementLeaving the workforce permanently
elderly · senior · graying · menopause · andropause · arthritis · pension · centenarian · octogenarian · nonagenarian
wisdom
Good judgment from experience
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
- growthIncrease in size
- developmentProgress toward maturity
maturation · understanding · insight · judgment · prudence · discernment · perspective · composure · self-awareness · accountability
job
Paid position of employment
- professionTrained occupational field
- employmentPaid occupation status
- occupationOne's regular paid work
vocation · workplace · salary · promotion · resume · ambition · industry · corporate · manager · executive
childbirth
Infant's emergence from womb
- breastfeedingLactation-based infant nourishment
- pediatricianPhysician for children
- cribSmall bed with rails
stroller · maternity · paternity · nursery · toddler · homework · babysitter · custody · adoption · child-rearing
- developmentgrowth, progress, advancement, expansion, improvement
- growthgrowth, grow, growing, growth rate, increase
- social lifefriend, family, group, relationship, community
- experiencesadventure, journey, moment, event, feeling
- age-related termsretirement age, driving age, drinking age, voting age, legal age
- coming-of-agecoming-of-age, bildungsroman, growing up, maturation, youth
adulthoodimmaturity
Undeveloped condition
childishness · juvenility · infantilism · puerility · naivety
- young adulthoodAge roughly eighteen to thirty
- early adulthoodPhase following adolescence
- emerging adulthoodDevelopmental phase, late teens-twenties
- late adulthoodFinal life stage