Precocious
adj.capable, energeticformal
What it means
Displaying a level of ability or maturity unusually early in development.
Reach for it when describing a child or young talent whose advancement is notably ahead of age expectations
The precocious naturalist catalogued every moth in the school garden.
Choose between these
6- playful
ahead of the curve
for early progress described in relaxed comparative language
not when The idiom is informal and can reduce development to competition.
- warm
early-blooming
if development arrived sooner without implying superiority
not when Early-blooming is gentler but uncommon and may be confused with plants.
- warm
mature for their age
when emotional or social development is the specific quality
not when This phrase should not be used as evidence of exceptional intellectual skill.
- professional
advanced
if current performance sits ahead of the expected developmental stage
not when Advanced may result from instruction and is a neutral assessment rather than a character description.
- professional
when exceptional natural ability is recognized without emphasizing timing
not when Gifted can describe any age and is often tied to formal educational categories.
- literary
for ability or output remarkable in scale
not when Prodigious does not require youth and can describe quantities.
Said against
3- delayed
- immature
- late-developing
It naturally appears in
3- precocious child
The precocious child still had ample time for unstructured play.
- precocious talent
Her precocious talent appeared in melodies composed before she could write.
- precocious ability
Precocious ability brought opportunities along with pressure from adults.
Where this comes from
- wiktionary, English adjective sense: showing unusually early development opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.