Immature

How to spell immature

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce immature

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does immature mean?

1. adjectiveNot yet fully grown, developed, or finished.
2. adjectiveBehaving in a childish way that is not appropriate for an adult.

Immature in a sentence

• The fruit was still immature and far too sour to eat.

• His immature reaction to the feedback embarrassed the whole team.

• The company's accounting systems are still immature and prone to errors.

• Throwing the phone across the room was an immature thing to do.

Where does immature come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin immaturus, which literally meant 'unripe' or 'not yet ready', formed from the negative prefix in- meaning 'not' and maturus meaning 'ripe, timely, or ready'. The same maturus root gives English the word 'mature' itself, as well as 'maturity', and it originally described fruit and crops that had reached their proper season. When English adopted the term in the late 1500s, it first carried the sense of being unripe or untimely before broadening to describe a person, animal, or thing that has not reached full development. The figurative use for childish behaviour came later, treating an immature adult as someone who has not 'ripened' emotionally. The spelling trap lives at the front: the Latin prefix in- assimilates to im- before the 'm' of maturus, which is why the word carries a doubled 'm'.

How the word is built

• im- (not)
• mature (ripe, fully developed)