Pubescent

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pubescent \Pu*bes"cent\ (p[-u]"b[e^]s"sent), a. [L. pubescens,
     -entis, p. pr. of pubescere to reach puberty, to grow hairy
     or mossy, fr. pubes pubes: cf. F. pubescent.]
     1. Arrived recently at puberty.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              That . . . the men (are) pubescent at the age of
              twice seven, is accounted a punctual truth. --Sir T.
                                                    Browne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Covered with pubescence, or fine short hairs, as certain
        insects, and the leaves of some plants.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pubescent
       adj 1: (of animals especially human beings) having arrived at the
              onset of puberty (the age at which sex glands become
              functional) but not yet fully mature; "the budding
              breasts of a pubescent girl and the downy chin of
              pubescent boy"
       2: covered with fine soft hairs or down; "downy milkweed seeds"
          [syn: {downy}, {puberulent}, {sericeous}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  45 Moby Thesaurus words for "pubescent":
     adolescent, attenuate, attenuated, bristly, bushy, cirrose, dainty,
     delicate, downy, feathery, filmy, fine, fine-drawn, fine-grained,
     finespun, fleecy, flocculent, flossy, fluffy, furry, fuzzy, gauzy,
     gossamer, gossamery, hairy, hirsute, hispid, lanate, matted,
     maturescent, nubile, pilose, refined, satin, satiny, shagged,
     shaggy, silky, smooth, thin-spun, unshorn, velutinous, velvety,
     wiredrawn, woolly