Definition of PRECOCIOUS (original) (raw)
1
: exceptionally early in development or occurrence
2
: exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age
Did you know?
Precocious got its start in Latin when the prefix prae-, meaning "ahead of," was combined with the verb coquere, meaning "to cook" or "to ripen." Together, they formed the adjective praecox, which meant "early ripening" or "premature." By the mid-1600s, English speakers had turned praecox into precocious and were using it especially to describe plants that produced blossoms before their leaves came out. Within decades, precocious was also being used to describe humans who developed skills or talents sooner than others typically did. Pop music lovers may recall the lyric "She’s precocious!" from "Bette Davis Eyes," although the song itself was something of a late bloomer: originally released in 1974 by Jackie DeShannon (and cowritten by DeShannon and Donna Weiss), it didn’t become a hit until Kim Carnes’ Grammy Award-winning version was released in 1981.
Synonyms
Examples of precocious in a Sentence
But what has paleontologists agog is this googol-granddaddy's precocious attributes: most notably the relative flatness of its face, which is more modern-looking than skulls half its age. —
Fred Guterl, Newsweek, 22 July 2002 As a boy, I had caught eight-inch-long, juvenile "snapper" blues in Barnegat Bay and marveled at the uncommon strength and speed and the precocious attack instinct within their slender, silver bodies. —Pete Bodo, New York Times, 8 July 2001 … Columbus was still sailing the ocean blue and American English, frisky and rambunctious as a precocious child, was as yet unborn. —Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2000 … no longer certain that my blackness gave me precocious wisdom, or that I could outslick these folks … —Lorene Cary, Black Ice, 1991
She was a precocious child who could read before she went to school. A precocious musician, he was giving concerts when he was seven.
Recent Examples on the Web The aficionados at Hayward Field had taken note of Wilson’s precocious exploits. —Adam Kilgore, Washington Post, 22 June 2024 The original animated flick is set around a pampered cat named Duchess and her precocious kitties Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz, living in a fancy mansion with a wealthy owner. —Rendy Jones, EW.com, 19 June 2024 With a precocious duo at its center and plentiful nods toward books as propellants for visionary thinking, The Imaginary affirms reading as a radical act. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2024 The unnamed narrator is a forty-five-year-old in L.A. with a mellow music-producer husband and a precocious seven-year-old. —The New Yorker, 12 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for precocious 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'precocious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Latin praecoc-, praecox early ripening, precocious, from prae- + coquere to cook — more at cook
First Known Use
1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of precocious was in 1650
Dictionary Entries Near precocious
Cite this Entry
“Precocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precocious. Accessed 3 Jul. 2024.
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Last Updated: 26 Jun 2024 - Updated example sentences
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