Grownup, Grown up, or Grown-up? (Helpful Examples)

“Grown up” is a fairly common word in English. We use it to talk about adults or maturity, and it would help to know how to spell it. For example, is it spelled as one or two words, or is the hyphenated form sufficient? This article will explain it all!

Grown up vs. Grown-up vs. Grownup

“Grown up” is correct as an adjective and a noun. We use it most commonly to refer to people who are acting maturely or being adults. “Grown-up” is the correct adjective verb but only when the noun comes directly after the word. “Grownup” is never correct.

According to Google Ngram Viewer, “grown up” is the most popular choice. There is quite a big difference between it and “grown-up” with the hyphen, but they are both acceptable forms. As you can see, the one-word “grownup” is not correct.

In The Cambridge Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionary, “grown up” and “grown-up” are both defined. Both words are listed as adjectives and nouns.

The Cambridge Dictionary makes the distinction between the two forms much clearer. The Cambridge Dictionary states that “grown up” works as an adjective, but we must hyphenate the words when the noun comes directly after it.

To show you how the adjective forms might differ, you can refer to the following:

• Noun: You need to be a grown up about this situation.
• Adjective: You should have a more grown-up attitude.

Is “Grownup” One Word?

“Grownup” is never written as one word. You should avoid using it in this form because it does not have the same meaning that we expect. It’s best to keep “grown” and “up” separate because both words have different definitions.

Some of these examples should help you with it:

• Correct: If you’re not going to act like a grown up, maybe you should just leave!
• Incorrect: We need to talk to a grownup because they will always know what to do.
• Correct: Having grown-up responsibilities is something I’ve been looking forward to for most of my life.
• Incorrect: As a grownup, it’s hard to keep tabs on everything that your children are doing while you’re not there.

Is “Grown up” Two Words?

“Grown up” works as two words as both an adjective and a noun. However, it’s more common to write it as two words when it’s in the noun form because it follows more conventional English rules. You should keep it separated to show the clear difference between “grown” and “up.”

Check out these examples if you want to understand it better:

1. As grown ups, it’s important that you check in on the health and happiness of your children.
2. You should confide in a grown up whenever you feel overwhelmed. They usually have all the answers.
3. You need grown ups on your side. If you can find one who agrees with you, we’ll be more inclined to listen.
4. Do you know a grown up that can help you with this? I think you should find one.

Is “Grown-up” Hyphenated?

“Grown-up” should only be hyphenated when used as an adjective and when it modifies a noun that comes directly after it. This is fairly common in English, especially when talking about attitudes or behavior traits (i.e. “grown-up responsibilities” or “grown-up attitude”).

AP Stylebook guidelines teach us that multiple-word adjectives should always be linked with hyphens when they modify the same noun. When that noun comes directly after the word, it’s helpful to keep the hyphen there.

Here are some more examples to help you out:

1. You need to have a grown-up handle on the situation, mister.
2. I think your grown-up behavior is a real reflection of the good parenting around you.
3. Do you have any grown-up advice that might be of use to me?
4. Can we have a grown-up talk for once? I want you to be a little more mature.

Is “Up” Capitalized In The Word “Grown-Up”?

There is no reason to capitalize either part of the hyphenated form of “grown-up.” It is not a proper noun, so it will not benefit from capitalization.

However, if written as part of a title, you might find it useful to capitalize both parts to keep it more in line with the rest of the words in your title style.