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Is there an adjective in English to describe grown-up children? In context, I was writing about family dynamics and the "parental duty of care" towards children, but got stuck on a word describing any duty of care of adult children towards their (elderly) parents.

Example sentence:

The mother and father have a parental duty of care, especially in their offspring's younger years. In return the children have a {adjective for adult children} duty of care to their elderly parents in later years.

Obviously candidates like "infantile" or "juvenile" don't work as they exclude adult children.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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    In general I'd advise against accepting an answer straight away. Fewer people tend to visit answered questions, so you may get other, better, answers if you leave it a day or two.
    – AndyT
    Commented May 12, 2017 at 10:47

2 Answers 2

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You might consider the word filial:

of, relating to, or befitting a son or daughter: filial obedience

dictionary.com

This word doesn't connotate adult children as such, but unlike your rejected words of "infantile" and "juvenile" it doesn't connotate under-18s.

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If you are looking for a more formal word, you can use issue

children of one's own. "he died without male issue"

Usually this is used in formal settings, such as legal or historical documents.

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