striplings
Boys becoming men
Striplings is the plural of stripling, a literary or old-fashioned word for a youth or adolescent boy—someone past childhood but not yet fully grown.
The word often carries a slightly dismissive tone, emphasizing inexperience or physical immaturity: These striplings think they can challenge seasoned veterans.
Youth approaching maturity
- teenagersPeople aged thirteen to nineteen
- youngstersPeople not yet adult
- juvenilesUnderage individuals
- minorsThose below legal age
whippersnappers · fledglings · youths · lads · young men · boys · sprouts · saplings
Inexperienced newcomers
- beginnersThose newly learning
- neophytesInexperienced newcomers
- rookiesInexperienced beginners in profession
- greennessState of being verdant
callowness · naivety · rawness · untested · unproven · apprentices · trainees · learners
Commitment to act
- buddingDeveloping from an outgrowth
- emergingComing into view
- developingBecoming more advanced
- aspiringSeeking to achieve
up-and-coming · talent · aptitude · prospects · capability · growth · blossoming · flourishing
adolescents
Youth approaching maturity
- teenagersPeople aged thirteen to nineteen
- youngstersPeople not yet adult
- juvenilesUnderage individuals
minors · whippersnappers · fledglings · youths · lads · young men · boys · sprouts · saplings · pups
novices
Inexperienced newcomers
- beginnersThose newly learning
- neophytesInexperienced newcomers
- rookiesInexperienced beginners in profession
greenness · callowness · naivety · rawness · untested · unproven · apprentices · trainees · learners · initiates
promise
Commitment to act
- buddingDeveloping from an outgrowth
- emergingComing into view
- developingBecoming more advanced
aspiring · up-and-coming · talent · aptitude · prospects · capability · growth · blossoming · flourishing · ripening