IMMATURE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does immature mean? 

• IMMATURE (adjective)
  The adjective IMMATURE has 5 senses:

1. characteristic of a lack of maturity

2. (used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth

3. not fully developed or mature; not ripe

4. not yet mature

5. (of birds) not yet having developed feathers

  Familiarity information: IMMATURE used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMMATURE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characteristic of a lack of maturity

Context example:

immature behavior

Similar:

adolescent; jejune; juvenile; puerile (displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity)

childish; infantile (indicating a lack of maturity)

babyish (characteristic of a baby)

Antonym:

mature (characteristic of maturity)

Derivation:

immatureness; immaturity (not having reached maturity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth

Synonyms:

immature; young

Context example:

young people

Similar:

puppyish; puppylike (characteristic of a puppy)

preadolescent; preteen (of or relating to or designed for children between the ages of 9 and 12)

newborn (recently born)

little; small ((of children and animals) young, immature)

junior (including or intended for youthful persons)

girlish; schoolgirlish (befitting or characteristic of a young girl)

early (very young)

childlike; childly (befitting a young child)

boyish; boylike; schoolboyish (befitting or characteristic of a young boy)

infantile (being or befitting or characteristic of an infant)

adolescent; teen; teenage; teenaged (being of the age 13 through 19)

five-year-old (five years of age)

four-year-old (four years of age)

three-year-old (three years of age)

two-year-old (two years of age)

one-year-old (one year of age)

tender (young and immature)

youngish (somewhat young)

vernal; young; youthful (suggestive of youth; vigorous and fresh)

Also:

junior (younger; lower in rank; shorter in length of tenure or service)

new (not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered)

immature (not yet mature)

Attribute:

age (how long something has existed)

Domain category:

animate thing; living thing (a living (or once living) entity)

Derivation:

immatureness (not having reached maturity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Not fully developed or mature; not ripe

Synonyms:

green; immature; unripe; unripened

Context example:

green wood

Similar:

unaged (not subjected to an aging process)

Derivation:

immatureness; immaturity (not having reached maturity)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Not yet mature

Similar:

adolescent (in the state of development between puberty and maturity)

embryologic; embryonal; embryonic (of an organism prior to birth or hatching)

inceptive; inchoative (initial)

larval (immature of its kind; especially being or characteristic of immature insects in the newly hatched wormlike feeding stage)

prepubertal; prepubescent ((especially of human beings) at the age immediately before puberty; often marked by accelerated growth)

prepupal (of an inactive stage in the development of some insects, between the larval and the pupal stages)

pubescent ((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)

pupal (of the insects in the chrysalis (cocoon) or post larval stage)

underdeveloped (not yet fully developed)

Also:

premature (born after a gestation period of less than the normal time)

immature; young ((used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth)

Attribute:

age (how long something has existed)

matureness; maturity (state of being mature; full development)

Antonym:

mature (having reached full natural growth or development)

Derivation:

immatureness; immaturity (not having reached maturity)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(of birds) not yet having developed feathers

Synonyms:

immature; unfledged

Context example:

a small unfledged sparrow on the window sill

Similar:

unfeathered (not having feathers)

 Context examples 

Refers to myeloblasts (a type of immature cell that forms in the bone marrow).

(Myeloblast, NCI Dictionary)

When the proliferating cells are immature myeloid cells and myeloblasts, it is called acute myeloid leukemia.

(Myeloid Leukemia, NCI Thesaurus)

A tumor mass composed of myeloblasts or immature myeloid cells.

(Myeloid Sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)

These cells are similar to both monocytes and myelocytes (immature cells that develop into different types of immune system cells).

(Myelomonocyte, NCI Dictionary)

An immature precursor cell that gives rise to a melanocyte.

(Melanoblast, NCI Thesaurus)

An aggressive (fast-growing) type of leukemia (blood cancer) in which too many B-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) are found in the bone marrow and blood.

(B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, NCI Dictionary)

Multiplication or reproduction by cell division of immature precursor cells that have not achieved a fully differentiated state.

(Blast Cell Proliferation, NCI Thesaurus)

A phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia in which 20% or more of the cells in the blood or bone marrow are blast cells (immature blood cells).

(Blast Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, BCR-ABL1 Positive, NCI Dictionary)

An infiltrating malignant soft tissue neoplasm characterized by the presence of immature undifferentiated cells and abundant myxoid stroma formation.

(Myxosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A provisional entity describing precursor lymphoid neoplasms that express CD56 and immature T-cell markers, lack B-lymphoid and myeloid markers, and have the immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes in the germline configuration.

(Natural Killer Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia/Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)