wayward youth
Rebellious young person
Wayward youth refers to young people who resist guidance, rules, or conventional expectations.
The phrase often appears in discussions of juvenile delinquency or troubled adolescents: programs for wayward youth, a home for wayward youth.
It carries an old-fashioned, slightly moralistic tone—suggesting someone who has strayed from the proper path rather than simply rebelled.
- rebelliousResisting authority or control
- delinquentFailing in duty
- juvenile delinquentYouth who commits crimes
- troubledExperiencing distress or anxiety
- runawayOne who flees
running away · street kid · misguided · bad influence · reckless · defiant · juvenile · truant · skipping school · wild · unruly · streetwise · lost · dead end · restless · vagrant · punk · dropout
- juvenile delinquencyjuvenile crime, juvenile justice, juvenile court, delinquency, young offender
wayward youthgood kid
teacher's pet · conformist · straight-A student · goody-goody · goody two-shoes
wayward youthhigh achiever
success story · valedictorian · scholarship winner · young professional · whiz kid
wayward, youth, waywardness, younger, youngest, youthful, youthfully, youthfulness, youths