Meaning & use

puberty

noun·Academic

The period during which a young person's body matures and becomes physically capable of reproduction.

See it in a sentence

Many teenagers feel self-conscious about the physical changes that come with puberty.

Puberty usually begins a couple of years earlier in girls than it does in boys.

A note on using this word

Puberty refers specifically to the biological and hormonal changes of maturing, while adolescence more broadly covers the social teenage years.

Words with a similar meaning

adolescence

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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