Meaning & use
age appropriateness
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
The quality of being suitable for people of a particular age, especially children.
Grammar: Uncountable; used with singular verbs and often followed by 'of'.
Patterns
- age appropriateness of something
- consider age appropriateness
- check age appropriateness
Teachers discussed the age appropriateness of the film before showing it to the class.
Parents often question the age appropriateness of video games for young children.
The age appropriateness of the book was reviewed by a panel of educators.
Common combinations
- age appropriateness of
- The age appropriateness of the content was questioned by parents.
- consider age appropriateness
- Before assigning the novel, the teacher had to consider its age appropriateness.
- age appropriateness guidelines
- The streaming service follows age appropriateness guidelines for its shows.
Synonyms and how they differ
- suitability
- Suitability is broader and can refer to any kind of fitness, while age appropriateness specifically concerns age.
Word family
- age-appropriate adjective
- Suitable for a particular age, as in age-appropriate books.
Commonly confused: age appropriateness or age-appropriate?
age appropriateness vs age-appropriate
The adjective is hyphenated and used before a noun, while the noun phrase is usually written as two words.
Practice
The school committee reviewed the ______ of the new sex education curriculum for middle schoolers.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun phrase to follow 'the', so 'age appropriateness' is correct. 'Age appropriate' is an adjective and cannot be the object of 'reviewed'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “age appropriateness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.