subdebutante
Etymology
From sub- + debutante.
subdebutante means A young woman who has not yet made her formal appearance in society. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why “subdebutante” is a great word
SUBDEBUTANTE — [Noun] A young woman who has not yet made her formal debut into society. From the English prefix sub- ("under, below") + debutante ("a young woman making her formal debut into society"). First recorded in 1915–20. Unlike a "debutante," who occupies the center of her curated spectacle, or an "ingénue," who projects a theatrical innocence, the subdebutante exists in a state of anticipatory limbo. She is the white gown in its tissue paper, the rehearsal of a waltz in an empty ballroom, and the unbroken seal on an invitation not yet sent—a life composed entirely of rehearsals for a single performance that may already be an anachronism.
noun
- A young woman who has not yet made her formal appearance in society.“This is the season of the subdebutante. These are the days when in shrill perfumed coveys they flutter through the houses and clubhouses of America's big cities. When summer comes they will disperse to the leisure of lakes, beaches and mountains. But now the subdebutante is dynamic, gregarious and at the peak of her plumage.”