came of age
Turned legally adult
Came of age is the past tense of come of age, meaning to reach adulthood or full maturity.
The phrase marks a transition point—legal, developmental, or cultural: She came of age during the Depression.
It extends to things reaching their definitive form: The internet came of age in the 1990s.
A coming-of-age story depicts this transition.
- bar mitzvahJewish adulthood ceremony
- quinceañeraFifteenth birthday celebration
- self-discoveryLearning one's true character
- adulthoodState of being grown
- rite of passageTransition-marking ceremony
finding yourself · independence · legal independence · first apartment · leaving the nest · responsibility · real world · self-reliance · emancipation · initiation ritual · trial by fire · bildungsroman · graduation · wisdom · voting rights · military service · driving license · confidence
capability/readiness
came of agedeclined
Refused or diminished
deteriorated · faded · withered · past its prime · waned