kidult
n. A middle-aged person who continues to participate in and enjoy youth culture.
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Etymology
Examples
2002
'Adult toys' may sound like a risque phrase, but it is also used to describe the playthings that 'kidults' (those of us who never quite grew up) have been buying in increasing numbers.
—Celia Walden, “Trigger happy,” Mail On Sunday, January 13, 2002
1985 (earliest)
And in the background, on a much less lavish scale, is LBS communications, which doesn't own its own stations but provides a lucrative stream of 'kidult' — children, teenager and young adult — programming to independents.
—Peter Martin, “Coming Soon: TV's New Boy Network,” The Times, August 11, 1985
Notes
Forget beauty, sophistication or elegance. They are too hard to aspire to, and besides, they are for old people. Today, it's all about being cute until you die. Think of celebrity heroines like Rosie O'Donnell, who frequents McDonald's for the Happy Meal toys, the baby-voiced Victoria Jackson of Saturday Night Live, and 40-year-old babydult Heather Locklear, who was recently observed wheeling Barbie luggage through the L.A. airport. Given Locklear's strong physical resemblance to the doll, the vision must have been like Airport Barbie come to life.
—Karen von Hahn, “Noticed: Babydult,” The Globe and Mail, September 14, 2002