The phrase coming of age means obtaining maturity, entering adulthood. The age at which a child comes of age varies from culture to culture, generally occurring during the teenage years. A child’s coming of age is often marked with tests of knowledge or strength, as well as a ceremony. When used as an adjective preceding a noun, the term is hyphenated as in coming-of-age. Otherwise, the term is not hyphenated. Related terms are come of age, comes of age, came of age. A popular literary genre is the coming-of-age story, which is a story that describes the journey of a character into adulthood. Coming of age may be used figuratively to describe something that is fully matured.
Examples
Organiser Tina Waru said indigenous fashion is coming of age. (The National Indigenous Times)
Some analysts say it is a potential coming of age for the relatively isolated country, still run by an opaque old guard communist regime with Cold War memories of being bombed by the United States during the Vietnam War. (The Straits Times)
He’s British showbiz royalty’s son and heir – and as he comes of age Brooklyn Beckham is stepping forward as crown prince. (The Mirror)
Mr. Rubio came of age in the 1990s as the Cuban-American exile community was ascending to political prominence and transforming the Miami area into a bustling international metropolis. (The Wall Street Journal)
Field thought of it as a coming-of-age story, just not one about youth. (The Los Angeles Times)
“The Boy and the Beast,” the director’s latest coming-of-age story, is a brilliant, funny morality tale that examines the transformative effects of martial arts training. (The Albuquerque Journal)
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to coming-of-age documentary Asperger’s Are Us ahead of its premiere at SXSW. (The Hollywood Reporter)