neotenous

English

WOTD – 17 December 2012, 17 December 2014

Etymology

neoteny +‎ -ous

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /niˈɒtənəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /niˈɑːtənəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

neotenous (comparative more neotenous, superlative most neotenous)

1. Exhibiting retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
2. (informal) Babyfaced.

Quotations

• 1967 December 22, Desmond Morris, “The Naked Ape”, in LIFE‎^[1], volume 63, number 25, page 97:

  So there he stands—our vertical, hunting, weapon-toting, territorial, neotenous, brainy naked ape, a primate by adoption, ready to conquer the world. But he is a very new and experimental departure, and new models frequently have imperfections. […]

• 2005, Charles Stross, “Nightfall”, in Accelerando, page 245:

  ‘Parents. What are they good for?’ asks Amber, with all the truculence of her seventeen years. ‘Even if they stay neotenous, they lose flexibility. And there's that long Paleolithic tradition of juvenile slavery. Inhuman, I call it.’

Synonyms

• (juvenile in adult): neotenic
• (babyfaced): babyfaced

Derived terms

• neotenously

Related terms

• neotenic
• neoteny

Translations

exhibiting juvenile characteristics

• Finnish: nuorekas (fi)

babyfaced — see babyfaced