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precocious

prɪˈkoʊʃəsadjective

What does precocious mean?

Developing skills or maturity earlier than usual.

Precocious, six ways

PlainDeveloping skills or maturity earlier than usual.
ADHDEarly bloomer. Ahead of their age. Sometimes a lot.
Gen ZA kid who is scarily ahead. Reads novels at six, debates you at eight.
MetaphorFruit ripe in May.
FormalHaving developed certain abilities or inclinations at an earlier age than usual.
Like I’m 5A child who can do things way before most kids can. That’s precocious.

How to pronounce precocious

prih-KOH-shus/prɪˈkoʊʃəs/

Precocious in a sentence

A precocious reader, she finished the series at seven.
A precocious eight-year-old corrected my grammar.
Mozart was famously precocious.

Synonyms for precocious

giftedTalented, at any age.
advancedPlainer; ahead of level.
matureGrown-up in manner.

Where precocious comes from

Latin. Praecox, early-ripening, from prae, before, and coquere, to ripen. First said of plants.

Good to know

Usually about children doing grown-up things early. It can sound slightly teasing: precocious is clever and knows it.

Precocious meaning, on a Gloss card: Developing skills or maturity earlier than usual.

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Words like precocious

nonchalant · circumspect · quixotic · prolific · pragmatic · ubiquitous · All 110 words

In: Words for people · SAT words