Adolescence is a four-episode 2025 British crime television miniseries from creators Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham. Directed by Philip Barantini, the series, which was released on Netflix, is filmed in one continuous shot and follows a 13-year-old boy named Jamie Miller who is arrested for the murder of a classmate.
Graham told Sky News he was inspired by real-life events. “I read an article about a young girl who was stabbed to death by a young boy, and then a few months later, on the news, there was a young girl who, again, had been brutally stabbed to death by a young boy in a completely different part of the country.”
“If I’m really honest with you, that hurt my heart and I just thought, why? Why does this kind of thing happen? What is this society? Why have we reached this point where this kind of thing is happening? What was the reason?”
The same questions that inspired Graham to write the show seem to be captivating viewers of the miniseries. But another thing viewers seem to be honing in on is some of the very specific British slang words used in the series, like the word nonce. But what does nonce mean in Adolescence? We explain.
What does a nonce mean in Adolescence?
Nonce is a British word used in slang to refer to an alleged or convicted sex offender, especially one involving children. In Adolescence, the word is poignantly brought up in a scene near the end, when, thirteen months after Jamie is sent away to Standling Secure Training Center, Eddie Miller, Jamie’s father is celebrating his birthday. In contrast to American English, nonce means the one, particular, or present occasion, purpose, or use.
The scene starts out with an upbeat tone, as Eddie Miller unpacks a birthday card from Jamie. The mood soon turns somber as Lisa informs him that someone has vandalized his van. As Eddie Miller goes outside, he sees the word “Nonce” in graffiti on the side of the plumbing van.
But despite the suggestion, Eddie Miller isn’t an abuser, and that’s not the reason Jamie Miller committed the murder. “I didn’t want his dad to be a violent man,” Graham told The Guardian.”I didn’t want Mum to be a drinker. I didn’t want our young boy to be molested by his uncle Tony. I wanted to remove all of those possibilities for us to go: ‘Oh, that’s why he did it.’ ”
Graham further explained to Netflix’s Tudum, “One of our aims was to ask, ‘What is happening to our young men these days, and what are the pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media?’”
“When I was a kid, when I was in my bedroom, my mum knew I was safe. There wasn’t really much I could be doing that would bring me to harm. But in today’s day and age, these phones are very dangerous. And these so-called influencers, I think there’s a huge responsibility there,” he expanded in an interview with GQ U.K.
