teenage

teenage — adjective

1. between thirteen and nineteen years old — the stage of life when a person is no

1.形容詞A2
釋義

between thirteen and nineteen years old — the stage of life when a person is no longer a child but not yet an adult.

例句

Samir's teenage daughter just started her first part-time job at a bookshop.

Kenji wrote most of his best songs during his teenage years, inspired by the friendships and changes at school.

collocation: teenage years

同義詞
  • adolescent

    more formal and clinical; used in psychology or medicine

  • young

    broader — covers any young person, not specifically 13–19

反義詞
  • adult

    a person who has finished the teenage years

  • elderly

    opposite end of the age spectrum

文法句型

teenage + noun (daughter, son, years, boy, girl)

用法筆記

Frequently appears before family-role nouns (daughter, son) and life-stage nouns (years). This sense only describes people — not objects, media, or concepts.

常見錯誤

❌She is teenage.
✅She is a teenager.
💡'teenage' is an attributive adjective only; use 'teenager' as a predicate noun.
❌I bought a teenage phone.
✅I bought a phone for teenagers.
💡'teenage' with a product noun sounds unnatural unless the product is specifically designed for teenagers (e.g., teenage magazine).

2. related to the things that interest or affect people aged thirteen to nineteen —

2.形容詞A2
釋義

related to the things that interest or affect people aged thirteen to nineteen — for example, fashion, music, problems, or daily life.

例句

The city library opened a new teenage section with graphic novels and study spaces.

collocation: teenage section

Megan gave a talk about teenage mental health at the community centre last Friday.

同義詞
  • adolescent

    more formal; often used in academic or medical writing

  • youth

    used before nouns like youth culture, youth programme; broader age range

  • teen

    informal and common in American English before film, magazine, drama

反義詞
  • adult

    opposite age group for media, products, and experiences

文法句型

teenage + noun (fashion, culture, magazine, pregnancy, problems)

用法筆記

Unlike sense 1, this sense modifies things that are made for, about, or experienced by teenagers — not the teenagers themselves. The noun that follows is usually a topic (fashion, mental health), a product (magazine, section), or a concept (culture, rebellion).

常見錯誤

❌He bought a teenage car.
✅He bought a car for teenagers.
💡'teenage' does not describe objects owned or used by teenagers unless that object is specifically designed for them (teenage magazine is fine; teenage car is not).
❌Teenage love is a teenage film.
✅Teenage love is a teen film.
💡in informal American English, 'teen' is more natural than 'teenage' before film, movie, or TV show.