Precocious Meaning
/pɹəˈkəʊʃəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjCharacterized by exceptionally early development or maturity.
adjExhibiting advanced skills and aptitudes at an abnormally early age.
Sentence Examples
She's a precocious one eh?
You are being rather precocious.
The precocious child learned to read at three years old.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ child could read complex novels at the age of four years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ child could read fluently at the age of three and was solving algebra problems by five.
Word Origin & History
From Latin praecox (“premature, precocious, ripe before time, early ripe”), from praecoquō (“to ripen beforehand, ripen fully, also boil beforehand”), from prae (“before”) + coquō (“to cook, boil, ripen”). Doublet of apricot.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Now those abominations whom you call precocious boys—your little pet monsters, doctor!—and who can wonder that the world is what it is? when it is full of them—as they will have no divine time to look back upon in their own lives, how can they believe in innocence and goodness, or be other than sons of selfishness and the Devil?"
— 1859, George Meredith, chapter 15, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:
"She's precocious and she knows just / What it takes to make a pro blush"
— 1981, Donna Weiss, Jackie DeShannon, “Bette Davis Eyes”, performed by Kim Carnes:
"Scotland’s most encouraging early source of an attacking threat was Andrew Robertson as the precocious left-back charged forward to good effect on a couple of occasions."
— 2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:
"Both groups, also, have already evolved precocious (intracapsular) spore germination."
— 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 5:
"Mary: Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious / If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious."
— 1964, Sherman Brothers, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, in Mary Poppins, Walt Disney:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ child could read complex novels at the age of four years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ child could read fluently at the age of three and was solving algebra problems by five.