(slang) Activities typically associated with adulthood.
(slang) Activities typically associated with adulthood.
“1300 bucks later and a new stove is on its way. Stupid adulting.”
“I just finished paying off my credit cards. All that damn money. I hate adulting.”
Add your own interpretation of "adulting".
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with A.
The act of throwing yourself into adult responsibilities with obsessive, almost competitive intensity — optimising your budgets, automating your bills, batch-cooking every Sunday, and generally treating the logistics of adult life like a game you are determined to win at maximum efficiency. Adulting maxxing is part admirable discipline and part exhausting overcorrection, usually triggered by a period of genuine chaos or the dawning realisation that nobody else is going to sort this out for you. The internet views it with equal parts respect and concern.
The absolute pinnacle of responsible human behavior — the moment when you've crossed from merely functioning into genuinely thriving as an adult. Peak adulting is filing your taxes early, having an emergency fund, and still finding time to call your parents. It's aspirational and faintly self-congratulatory, usually deployed ironically when a small win feels disproportionately significant. Grocery shopping on a weekday morning with a list? Peak adulting. Owning a bathmat with matching towels? Borderline peak adulting.
The intentional mental state of switching off your chaotic, avoidant, or fun-first tendencies and temporarily becoming a responsible, functioning adult who handles the things. Adulting mode is almost always temporary and often dramatically announced — it is activated to get through tax returns, apartment hunting, difficult phone calls, or any cluster of tasks that have been putting off for too long. The declaration itself is a kind of psychological trick, framing responsibility as a mode you choose rather than a permanent identity.
Kissing puffins, because adulting is optional even for seabirds
“Hardest part of adulting for me now is trying to decide how I want to beg for fiscal reprieve and worrying if asking for help is inappropriate, a bad thing, or a sign of my incompetence as an adult.”
“A day of being "productive" out in the Big Blue Room, aka adulting and whatnot. Necessary spoon-spend, tomorrow is another day.”
““I took a timeout from adulting to do a quick thing””
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(nonstandard) Adultery.
"adulting" means adultery. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
"adulting" is informal English meaning adultery. It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "adultery" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "adulting" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing. If you are a B2 or C1 learner, it is useful to recognise this word when you hear or read it, but think carefully about whether the situation really calls for it before using it yourself.
“It'll all still be here when you're ready :D I'm in a similar position ATM but not from exams etc., just 'that stage in adulting' ;P”
“Oggi talmente tanto adulting che sto parlando di investimenti.”
“Kissing puffins, because adulting is optional even for seabirds”
“Adulting is a neologism for growing up that became popular on English-speaking social media in the second half of the 2010s.”
“Adulting is a comedy podcast hosted by Michelle Buteau and Jordan Carlos and produced by WNYC Studios.”
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