(PUR.muh-yooth; th as in thin)
n.
An appearance of youthfulness maintained over time by using cosmetic surgery; a person who maintains such an appearance. — adj. Relating to such an appearance. Also: permayouth.
Example Citation:
The book Eat to Beat Your Age by Janette Marshall is enticingly marketed as the perfect antidote for 30-year-olds who feel pressurised to have laser surgery in their lunch hours or for the over-60s who feel compelled to take up roller blading.
It promises to show how food can contribute to good looks and longevity through nutritional habits and lifestyle without pandering to today's Perma-Youth culture.
— "Ringing in another diet for the same few pounds," Daily Post, January 1, 2002
Earliest Citation:
People are suffering psychological damage because of society's obsession with "permayouth", an expert said today. The hopeless battle to stay young is driving increasing numbers of men and women into cosmetic surgery clinics in a vain bid to maintain their looks, said psychological Dr Eileen Bradbury.
— John von Radowitz, "Permayouth obsession is modern Holy Grail," Press Association, June 9, 1999
Notes:
This blend of permanent and youth has echoes of perma-press (permanent press; 1964), a fabric treatment applied to clothing to help it resist wrinkling and maintain its original shape. (Another possibility is perma-frost: permanently frozen ground; 1943.)
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New words. 2013.