youthfuladj.
/ˈjuːθf(ᵿ)l/, U.S. /ˈjuθf(ə)l/ 1. Having or characterized by youth; that is still young.
ΘΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > youth > [adjective] > youthful (of beings)
youngOE
young-like1530
young-old1558
youthly1566
youthlike1582
youthful1590
young-eyed1600
youthsome1661
youthy1712
early1814
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A5 The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 77 This Prince being youthfull, cast behinde him all care of the Empire.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 52 In vnlawfull loue, A sinne preuailing much in youthfull men. View more context for this quotation
1703 N. Rowe Fair Penitent iii. 32 Is she not more than Painting can express, Or youthful Poets fancy, when they love?
1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. xxiii. 37 A youthful princess, in the very sweetness and bloom of her years.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 129 Here we have..an unmistakable attack made by the youthful Socrates.
2. transferred. Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or suitable for, youth or the young; juvenile.
ΘΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > youth > [adjective] > relating to or intended for youth
youthlyc900
youthful1561
youngthly1579
younkerly1579
youngling1582
juvenile1661
junior1860
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. X.iij Alonso Carillo..hauynge committed certein youthfull partes that were of no great importance, was..caried to prison.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 41 Idlenes is.., the sole maintenance of youthfull [later edd. youthly] affection.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 160 The leane and slipper'd Pantaloone,..His youthfull hose well sau'd, a world too wide, For his shrunke shanke. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 31 Jest and youthful Jollity.
1723 C. Walker Authentick Mem. Sally Salisbury 10 Dress and Dancing were the sole Youthful Delights of our Sally.
1799 H. More Strict. Mod. Syst. Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 173 That profusion of little..sentimental books with which the youthful library overflows.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxv. 354 Mrs. Skewton..appropriately attired for that purpose in a very youthful costume.
1901 W. W. Jacobs Light Freights 228 An ancient eye watched with almost youthful impatience the slow warming of a mug of beer on the hob.
3. figurative. That is in its early stage, early, new; also, having the freshness or vigour of youth.
ΘΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [adjective] > fresh or new
newa1300
moistc1390
undiffadedc1430
green1585
youthful1594
virent1595
virgin1600
unhandleda1657
virginala1659
original1756
untrite1781
unclichéd1946
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 18 O earth I will befriend thee more with raine, That shall distill from these two auntient ruines, Than youthfull Aprill shall with all his showres. In summers drought.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage i. vii. 34 The larger stature..of men in those youthfull times and age of the world.
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. i. 24 Perfect Felicity, such as after millions and millions of Ages is still youthfull and flourishing.
1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Agamemnon in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 256 The youthfull bloom of rosy love.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 147 There may be a connexion between an extraordinary profusion of monocotyledonous plants and a youthful condition of the world.
1877 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 11/1 A youthful and astringent Tinta, an aromatic Malmsey of fabulous value.
4. youthful-looking adj.
ΘΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective] > youthful-looking
youthful-looking1846
1846 E. A. Poe in Godey's Lady's Bk. July 15/1 The likeness conveys a good general idea of the man, but is far too stout and youthful-looking for his appearance at present.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable 8 A man not so young actually, but rather simply youthful-looking.
1977 New Yorker 19 Sept. 66/3 Mrs. McCabe is a youthful-looking woman.
Derivatives
youthfullity n. youthfulness; plural youthful acts or follies.Apparently only in the writings of Horace Walpole.
ΘΠ
the world > people > person > young person > [noun] > characteristics of young person
colt's toothc1386
juvenilities1661
youthfullity1763
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > youth > [noun] > state, quality, or fact of
youthhood971
youtha1100
youthheadc1220
youngnessc1350
tenderc1400
youthnessc1475
unripenessa1500
youthlikeness1549
youthfulness1587
primeve1619
juvenility1623
infantility1631
youthfullity1763
youthiness1821
underdevelopment1891
vealiness1895
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > childish folly, childishness > [noun] > instance of
childhoodc1330
childhead1340
puerilityc1475
boytry?1542
childishness1587
babism1610
youthfullity1763
babyism1806
baby act1865
1763 H. Walpole Let. 15 Aug. in Corr. (1941) X. 94 You see my impetuosity does not abate much: no, nor my youthfullity.
1764 H. Walpole Let. to C. Churchill 27 Mar. You do not suspect me, I hope, of any youthfullities.
Draft additions March 2015
Physical Geography. Designating the first stages of development of a landform or a landscape feature; (of a landform, etc.) in such a stage, of relatively recent formation; (of a stream) not yet in a graded condition (graded adj. 5).
ΚΠ
1896 W. M. Davis in Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1895–6 31 317 An alternation of rough rapids and smooth-flowing reaches indicates a youthful stage of river life.
1928 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. 39 2 The escarpments are high and youthful.
1966 J. B. Fehrenbacher & C. E. Downey Soil Surv.: Jersey County, Illinois 11/2 The soils of this area are relatively youthful and have weakly developed subsoils.
2008 T. Mawer Pendant xiv. 198 Jim..stood on a large rock overlooking another, smaller steep-sided youthful valley.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1561