underage

underage — adjective

1. describes someone who is not old enough by law to do a particular thing, such as

1.形容詞B1
釋義

describes someone who is not old enough by law to do a particular thing, such as buy alcohol, drive a car, or get married

例句

Rachel showed her passport at the club entrance to prove she was not underage.

predicative: prove [someone] is not underage

The shop assistant told Mayumi she looked underage and refused to sell her beer.

同義詞
  • minor

    Noun form referring to a person below the legal age; underage is an adjective

  • juvenile

    More formal, often used in legal or judicial contexts

  • under-aged

    Alternative spelling with a hyphen, less common

反義詞
  • of age

    Having reached the legal age for a particular activity

  • adult

    A person who has reached the legal age of adulthood

文法句型

be underage

underage + person noun

用法筆記

Can be used either predicatively (She is underage) or attributively before a noun referring to a person (underage drinker). The predicative form is more common in everyday speech.

常見錯誤

❌He is an underage' (using underage as a noun).
✅He is underage' or 'He is a minor.
💡Underage is an adjective, not a noun.

2. describes activities or situations that involve people who are below the legal a

2.形容詞B2
釋義

describes activities or situations that involve people who are below the legal adult age

例句

The new law makes underage marriage illegal across the whole country.

attributive: underage marriage

Ada read a government report about underage drinking in her town.

attributive: underage drinking

同義詞
  • youth

    Noun form; less specific and does not carry the same legal implication

  • minor

    Noun; can convey a similar idea but requires restructuring the sentence

文法句型

underage + activity noun

用法筆記

Almost always used attributively before a noun that names an activity or situation, such as drinking, marriage, employment, or gambling. This sense does not describe people directly.