What's a similar word to 'precocious' with a positive connotation?

Question

Precocious, per its definition, describes a child in a positive light. But in practice, many tend to use it in a negative way, and I feel the negative connotation outweighs the positive. So even when you say 'precocious talent', it sounds like you're saying it out of spite.

Here are some opinions online that echoes what I am saying:

• Wiktionary Talk
• Yahoo Answers
• Skeptopia
• "Now freq. mildly derogatory, with connotations of overconfidence, self-assertiveness, or pretension" - Editorial Note from OED.

So is there a word similar to precocious, which does not carry this negative connotation? To describe someone is acting 'beyond his/her age'?

Answer 1

The current buzzword, adopted perhaps to counter the frequent derogation behind 'precocious', is 'gifted':

1. Endowed with great natural ability, intelligence, or talent: a gifted child; a gifted pianist.

[gifted. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved January 18 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gifted .]

This is not a precise match, as can be seen, because it does not carry the denotation of early maturity that 'precocious' does. That lack may be all to the good: early maturity is a mixed blessing at best.

In my experience, which has involved a lot of reading of British and American literature, as well as being frequently described while growing up as one of them, a precocious child, the use of 'precocious' is balanced between negative and positive connotations, with the scales tipped toward positive.

It seemed to me (note my bias) that the negative connotations arose from (a) a general and despicable confusion with 'precious', and (b) rank envy, which is misplaced. Early maturation in any area (intellectual, emotional, physical) is not often much less always to be envied.

Answer 2

I agree with JEL's last sentence. Whether it connotes a negative meaning or not would mostly depend on the following noun or context. There seems to be no single word that has a similar meaning but the adjective mature:

(Especially of a young person) having reached a stage of mental or emotional development characteristic of an adult: 'a young man mature beyond his years'

As the example sentence of the dictionary shows, it would be better to put "for his/her age" or "beyond his/her years" after mature to make it clearer.

Answer 3

I am surprised no one has suggested prodigy, which has positive connotations

(noun) a person, especially a child or young person, having extraordinary talent or ability

[Dictionary.com]

If you want to refer to children/kids below 10 years, you can say child prodigy. For a teenager, this would be teen prodigy.

This list of Child Prodigies is a great example of talents beyond their age and a dose of inspiration!