An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age. In human context, the term has other subordinate meanings associated with social and legal concepts; for example, a legal adult is a legal concept for a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible (contrast with "minor"). Adulthood can be defined in terms of physiology, psychological adult development, law, personal character, or social status.
These different aspects of adulthood are often inconsistent and contradictory. A person may be biologically an adult, and have adult behavior but still be treated as a child if they are under the legal age of majority. Conversely one may legally be an adult but possess none of the maturity and responsibility that may define adult character.
An event relating to the oncoming of adulthood is Coming of age, which encompasses passing a series of tests to demonstrate that a person is prepared for adulthood, or reaching a specified age, sometimes in conjunction with demonstrating preparation. Most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood.
Some propose that moving into adulthood involves an emotional structuring of denial, suggesting this process becomes necessary to cope with one's own behavior, especially in uncomfortable situations, and also the behavior of others.
Read more about Adult: Biological Adulthood, Legal Adulthood
Other articles related to "adult":
... genre, the Generation Squeeze, in which plots artificially combine adult and teenage elements" in order to attract the latter to the movie theater while attracting ... Cryer could have unexpected charm in more adult roles." ...
... Carey travelled to Los Angeles and made the rounds of the adult-film producers and studios, eventually landing a job with Playboy TV ... She was featured on VH1's reality series Celebrity Rehab, and has appeared in more than 80 adult films ... She has a product line with Doc Johnson adult toy company, she has authored a book, and she is currently developing a TV series with GoGo Luckey ...
... Outside her adult film work, she was the host of a radio show on KSEX, Me So Horny With Kaylani Lei ... According to the Internet Adult Film Database, she has worked in over 95 films, including Beautiful, The Assignment, Kaylani Unleashed, Space Nuts for Wicked and Naked Lust ... PSA" on the topic of internet piracy of adult content ...
... there is the requirement of supervision by a legal guardian, or just by an adult ... one can distinguish being allowed inside an adult establishment being allowed to purchase pornography being allowed to possess pornography another person being allowed ... Some cultures in Africa define adult at age 13 ...
... Internext-Expo is a biannual adult industry networking event B2B and convention for the adult Internet industry professionals and those who work within the ... held in January in Las Vegas at the conclusion of the Adult Entertainment Expo ...
Famous quotes containing the word adult:
“I would hope that parents and grown children could be friends. When a friend confides in you that she’s going to do something that you think is most inappropriate, foolhardy or even dangerous, wouldn’t you as a friend say so—in a calm, supportive way? Yet I have to be so careful what I say to my children. I have to walk on eggs to be sure I’m not hurting their feelings or interfering with their lives.”
—Anonymous Parent of Adult Children. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 5 (1978)
“Why does not the kitten betray some of the attributes common to the adult puss? A puppy is but a dog, plus high spirits, and minus common sense. We never hear our friends say they love puppies, but cannot bear dogs. A kitten is a thing apart; and many people who lack the discriminating enthusiasm for cats, who regard these beautiful beasts with aversion and mistrust, are won over easily, and cajoled out of their prejudices, by the deceitful wiles of kittenhood.”
—Agnes Repplier (1858–1950)
“Even though I had let them choose their own socks since babyhood, I was only beginning to learn to trust their adult judgment.. . . I had a sensation very much like the moment in an airplane when you realize that even if you stop holding the plane up by gripping the arms of your seat until your knuckles show white, the plane will stay up by itself. . . . To detach myself from my children . . . I had to achieve a condition which might be called loving objectivity.”
—Anonymous Parent of Adult Children. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 5 (1978)