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Synonyms

teen

1 American  
[teen] / tin /

adjective

  1. teenage.

noun

  1. a teenager.

teen 2 American  
[teen] / tin /

noun

  1. Archaic. suffering; grief.

  2. Obsolete. injury; harm.

-teen 3 American  

  1. a suffix used to form cardinal numerals from 13 to 19.

-teen 1 British  

combining form

  1. ten: added to modified forms of the numbers 3 to 9 to form the numbers 13 to 19

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
teen 2 British  
/ tiːn /

adjective

  1. informal another word for teenage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
teen 3 British  
/ tiːn /

noun

  1. obsolete affliction or woe

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does -teen mean? The suffix -teen means “ten.” It is used to form cardinal numbers from 13 to 19. The form -teen comes from Old English -tēne, meaning “ten.” The Latin cognate of -tēne is -decim, from decem, also meaning “ten.” Find out how dozen is related to the combining form -decim at our entry for the word.

Other Word Forms

  • -teenth combining form

Etymology

Origin of teen1

First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening

Origin of teen2

before 1000; Middle English tene, Old English tēona; cognate with Old Frisian tiona, Old Saxon tiono, Old Norse tjōn

Origin of -teen3

Middle English, Old English -tēne, combining form of ten; cognate with Dutch -tien, German -zehn

Explanation

Are you between the ages of 13 and 19? If so, you're a teen! Teen is a less-formal way to say teenager. You can use this informal word as a noun or an adjective, so you might talk about teen literature, teen rebellion, teen movies, or teen romance—anything that has to do with teenagers. If you're 11, you may be eagerly anticipating your teen years; if you happen to be 37, you certainly remember being a teen, either fondly or not. The teen years are also known as adolescence.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A bizarre pursuit unfolded along the residential streets of Oceanside this week as a helicopter and half a dozen sheriff’s patrol cars chased a teen whizzing away from them on an electric dirt bike.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

MarketWatch Don’t Short Yourself: Join MarketWatch on May 6 for a live talk and Q&A on teen investing, starting early and what young investors and their parents should know.

From The Wall Street Journal �� Apr. 30, 2026

A French teen facing criminal charges in Singapore for a straw licking stunt was granted permission on Wednesday to leave the country for three weeks on pledges to return.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

"Really the collapse of Claire's in the UK says a lot about how pre-teen and teen tastes and shopping preferences have evolved in the last decade," she says.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Yeah, my mom and dad were those stereotypical teen parents.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.