younger vs youngster, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“younger” is an adjective and “youngster” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,098
“younger” frequency rank: #20,545
“youngster” frequency rank: 22643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	younger	youngster
Definition	comparative form of young: more young	A young person.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set younger and youngster apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

younger

9 ch

youngster

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: younger is /ˈjʌŋɡə/ while youngster is /ˈjʌŋstə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

younger is recorded at frequency rank #2,098, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈjʌŋɡə/. youngster is at rank #20,545, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈjʌŋstə/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 22643, this pair ranks #415,076 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of younger vs youngster

Shared letters: egnoruy. Private to "younger": -. Private to "youngster": st.

"younger" · 7 letters · shape VVVCCVC · "youngster" · 9 letters · shape VVVCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

younger ← oyunger · yonuger · yougner · younegr · youngerr · youngger · youngre · younnger
youngster ← oyungster · yonugster · yougnster · younggster · youngsetr · youngsster · youngsterr · youngstre

Frequency comparison

younger#2,098

youngster#20,545

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "younger" and "youngster" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "younger" is an adjective and "youngster" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "younger" or "youngster"?

"younger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,098 in our English list, against #20,545 for "youngster". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering younger vs youngster

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “younger”; for a noun, it's “youngster”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “younger” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable