How to Use preteen in a Sentence

preteen

1 of 2 noun
Definition of preteennext
Synonyms for preteennext
  • The preteen and Gomez, both of Fort Worth, each face a murder charge.
    — Lana Ferguson, Dallas News, 16 May 2023
  • Home seems to be the dumping ground for all of our preteen's school angst.
    — Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2021
  • The girl, whom The Post is not identifying, was a preteen at the time.
    — Carolyn Van Houten, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Early in the new trailer, the 57-year-old Lemercier is seen as the preteen Dieu.
    — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 15 Dec. 2021
  • The preteen and his older brother went to a friend's house to get in some hangout time.
    — Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The oldest Gen Zers are working and have mortgages, the youngest are preteens.
    — Phil Lempert, Forbes, 3 May 2023
  • When Narayan was a preteen, her school put on a production of The Wizard of Oz.
    — Jenny Singer, Glamour, 24 Sep. 2021
  • The bones belong to an adult male, a preteen and an infant, according to the DNR.
    — From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 29 June 2021
  • One preteen's arm was the size of a 4.5 month old baby, according to ABC.
    — Alaa Elassar, CNN, 20 Nov. 2021
  • Podcast with Amy Jo Martin where the preteen dished on the one lesson her dad has to learn over and over.
    — Alexia Fernández, PEOPLE.com, 16 June 2021
  • Henry was born and raised there, while Tania moved there from London as a preteen.
    — Daniel Oyefusi, baltimoresun.com, 10 May 2021
  • The preteen pouted her lips for the camera as her party group did the same behind her.
    — Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 24 June 2023
  • In one passage near the end of the book, Frances watches Paul stare lustfully at a group of preteen girls.
    — Ella Fox-Martens, The Atlantic, 3 Sep. 2022
  • These are our top gear picks for camping with kids — from infants to preteens.
    — Mandy Harris, Travel + Leisure, 18 Oct. 2023
  • Bryan Hamilton was abused and given drugs as a preteen.
    — Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 11 Apr. 2023
  • That a tough-guy closer is coming in to a song preteen girls love is amusing.
    — Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2022
  • The preteen smiled as the wildlife enthusiast draped the writhing, 10-foot snake around her shoulders.
    — Vincent T. Davis, San Antonio Express-News, 20 June 2021
  • Max, as a preteen, flubbed his first foray in e-commerce.
    — Sarah E. Needleman, WSJ, 9 June 2021
  • As a preteen, Ryan hung out in chat rooms and learned how to use a video camera, according to a 2007 profile of her in The Times.
    — Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2021
  • This set is the perfect gift for a preteen or teen — period.
    — Karla Pope, Woman's Day, 25 Aug. 2022
  • As the author puts it, both daughters - Corinne, in her 20s, and Anelise, a preteen - agree that Dad gets on their motherf---ing nerves.
    — Seija Rankin, EW.com, 15 June 2021
  • Their children range in age from preteen to 20-something.
    — Jenny Singer, Glamour, 12 Oct. 2021
  • Skateboarding is new to the Olympics this year – and even a preteen competitor has medaled.
    — Pamela Falk, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2021
  • Those officers found the preteen girl who had been hit while trying to cross the road on foot, Smiley said.
    — Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 19 Aug. 2022
  • On her screen, a preteen with a buzz cut and an oversize dress shirt was belting out an Alicia Keys song.
    — Mark Bergen, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2022
  • Aretha was a preteen at the time and never publicly revealed who Clarence’s father was.
    — Emy Lacroix, Peoplemag, 13 July 2023
  • Wie West has been putting that into practice for years, ever since her preteen and teen days.
    — Elizabeth Millard, C.p.t., SELF, 20 June 2022
  • Lewis and David first met as preteens in a childhood sports camp, Lewis said in a 2023 interview with the Spectator.
    — Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
  • It was supposed to be a fun Valentine’s Day weekend sleepover among teen and preteen girls.
    — Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2022
  • The two posed together on a boulder and then later, Delilah posed solo as the preteen took in her trip to paradise.
    — Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 22 Aug. 2023
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preteen

2 of 2 adjective
  • There is a range of ages, though most of the artists are in their preteen years.
    — Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 20 June 2023
  • His big break came in the late aughts when a then preteen Justin Bieber hit the scene.
    — Emma Specter, Vogue, 22 Aug. 2023
  • The person went on to talk about life with a preteen girl.
    — Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 13 Feb. 2024
  • The preteen years can be challenging in more ways than one, but picking up the best gift for a 10-year-old in your life doesn’t have to be.
    — Chaunie Brusie, Rn, Bsn, Parents, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Her mind games put a new spin on preteen horror stories.
    — Jill Pellettieri, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2023
  • In 2014, two preteen girls lured a classmate into the woods on the pretense of everyday fun, and killed her.
    — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2020
  • The do-gooder shtick may explain his wide appeal to preteen boys and their parents alike.
    — Dan Hyman, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2018
  • Today, many of her first preteen readers now have Margarets of their own.
    — Kristen Page-Kirby, Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Angelina was a member of the preteen team, but there were also older teenagers and girls as young as 4 who were there to compete.
    — Lizzie Feidelson, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017
  • What would Del Toro-lite be like when adapting a hair-raising favorite from the glut of preteen horror series out there?
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Peri and her preteen daughter are stuck in traffic on their way to a soiree when a thief reaches into their car and runs off with Peri’s handbag.
    — Agnes Torres Al-Shibibi, The Seattle Times, 24 Dec. 2017
  • Connell said his brother leaves a wife, Melissa Ann Feis, and their preteen daughter.
    — Matt Campbell, kansascity, 16 Feb. 2018
  • Playing and watching team sports were the twin pillars of his preteen existence, and both pursuits were snatched away from him a matter of days.
    — Brendan I. Koerner, Wired, 19 May 2020
  • God Bless my dad, who braved a snowstorm that night to take me, armed with my brand new Kodak 110 camera (and plenty of flash bulbs!) to sit in a crowd of screaming preteen girls that night.
    — Chuck Yarborough, cleveland.com, 18 Feb. 2018
  • But this one involves abandoning your preteen children in a scary forest alone at night.
    — John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 1 Aug. 2019
  • However, the company currently has no plans to open Horizon Worlds to the preteen crowd.
    — Michael Kan, PCMAG, 16 June 2023
  • In Florida, a Guatemalan woman fought to get her preteen daughter from a state foster program in which the girl had been living for nearly five years.
    — Kevin Sieff, Washington Post, 21 July 2023
  • When Joie Manda was 12 years old, Mongoose bicycles were all the rage among his preteen friends in Brooklyn -- for everyone but him.
    — Gail Mitchell, Billboard, 16 Feb. 2018
  • Disturbing footage shows an Arizona man attempting to snatch a preteen girl who was walking to school last week, police said.
    — Andrea Vacchiano, Fox News, 30 Jan. 2024
  • On a recent Wednesday evening, as Pace was driving his van through Independence Square, a herd of preteen boys on skateboards descended on the van, phones at the ready.
    — Sarah Gish, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Subscribers in their 60s, families with preteen children and people of all ethnicities are now in the mix.
    — Pam Kragen, sandiegouniontribune.com, 27 July 2017
  • Her family paid a smuggler to get her and her preteen daughter from Honduras to Mexico.
    — Rafael Carranza, azcentral, 12 Feb. 2020
  • For Ryan Rivera, that moment is being among a group of preteen boys who set fire to a trash can near their middle school’s atrium, a childish mistake that cast him into the school-to-prison pipeline.
    — Julia Craven, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2023
  • David does his best to hide his anguish from the kids, celebrating preteen Kian’s birthday with a cake and the gift of a bunny, as if everything will proceed as normal.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Jan. 2024
  • But then there are images, like a preteen death stare from the passenger seat or a backyard haircut, that are emblematic of what any mother sees.
    — Nadine Zylberberg, Vogue, 3 Apr. 2023
  • Ray is also a soulful, loyal guy who cares lovingly for his preteen daughter and his sick brother.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2019
  • In the book — spoiler alert — things go badly for the preteen boys, classmates from an English boarding school who become stranded on an island without adults.
    — Daniel Victor, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Like the time their sister Irma bought candy with the money set aside to pay the family’s bills, and a preteen Molina went to the liquor store and haggled the money back, save for the cost of the two candies Irma had eaten.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2023
  • But my preteen son and daughter don't really remember that time.
    — Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2019
  • Over the last 50-plus years, the legendary author has built a YA empire, charming millions of teen and preteen readers with her frank, endlessly readable novels.
    — Devan Coggan, EW.com, 20 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'preteen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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