adults
No longer minors
Adults are people who have reached full physical maturity and legal majority—typically eighteen in most contexts.
The word often implies responsibility, independence, and the capacity to make binding decisions.
As an adjective, adult describes things intended for mature audiences, especially sexual content: adult entertainment, adult bookstore.
To adult as a verb, recent slang, means to handle grown-up responsibilities: I spent Saturday adulting—laundry, taxes, the whole thing.
Growing older over time
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- maturationProcess of becoming complete
- experiencePractical knowledge from life
- progressionSequential forward movement
growth · coming-of-age · puberty · milestone · transition · independence · self-discovery · identity
Mother and father
- votersThose who cast ballots
- workersPeople doing jobs
- professionalsSkilled, paid practitioners
- employeesPaid staff members
taxpayers · homeowners · drivers · consumers · citizens · employers · elders · mentors
Freedom from external control
- self-sufficiencyIndependence from outside aid
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- self-relianceDepending on oneself alone
- agencyPower to act
choice · self-determination · empowerment · consent · emancipation · self-governance · privacy · self-direction
Obligation for one's actions
- dutyRequired moral task
- obligationRequired task or commitment
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
- reliabilityConsistent, predictable performance
stewardship · guardianship · oversight · caregiver · provider · breadwinner · decision-making · self-care
aging
Growing older over time
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- maturationProcess of becoming complete
- experiencePractical knowledge from life
progression · growth · coming-of-age · puberty · milestone · transition · independence · self-discovery · identity · settling
parents
Mother and father
- votersThose who cast ballots
- workersPeople doing jobs
- professionalsSkilled, paid practitioners
employees · taxpayers · homeowners · drivers · consumers · citizens · employers · elders · mentors · supervisors
independence
Freedom from external control
- self-sufficiencyIndependence from outside aid
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- self-relianceDepending on oneself alone
agency · choice · self-determination · empowerment · consent · emancipation · self-governance · privacy · self-direction · contracts
accountability
Obligation for one's actions
- dutyRequired moral task
- obligationRequired task or commitment
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
reliability · stewardship · guardianship · oversight · caregiver · provider · breadwinner · decision-making · self-care · dependents
- peoplepeople, persons, person, individuals, humans
- populationspatients, inpatients, outpatients, elderly patients, stroke patients
- adultsgrown-up, grown-ups, mature, legal age, of age
- age groupsage groups, generations, life stages, children, teenagers
- Sunday schoolBible stories, Sunday school teachers, memory verses, lesson plans, Bible verse
- eventgoerspatrons, visitors, crowds, regulars, spectators
- young adultPerson just past adolescence
- adult actressErotic film star
- adults onlyRequiring legal age
- adult contentAge-restricted media
- adult supervisionGrownup monitoring minors
- adult entertainmentSexually explicit media
adult, adulthood, adulterate, adultery, adulting, adulteration, unadulterated, adult education, adultlike