childish
Americanadjective
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of, like, or befitting a child.
childish games.
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puerile; weak; silly.
childish fears.
adjective
-
in the manner of, belonging to, or suitable to a child
-
foolish or petty; puerile
childish fears
Related Words
Childish, infantile, childlike refer to characteristics or qualities of childhood. The ending -ish often has unfavorable connotations; childish therefore refers to characteristics that are undesirable and unpleasant: childish selfishness, outbursts of temper. Infantile, originally a general word, now often carries an even stronger idea of disapproval or scorn than does childish: infantile reasoning, behavior. The ending -like has pleasing or neutral connotations; childlike therefore refers to the characteristics that are desirable and admirable: childlike innocence, trust.
Other Word Forms
- childishly adverb
- childishness noun
- overchildish adjective
- overchildishly adverb
- overchildishness noun
- unchildish adjective
- unchildishly adverb
- unchildishness noun
Etymology
Origin of childish
First recorded before 1000; Middle English childisch, Old English cildisc; child + -ish 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's really nostalgic and cute. Like some 2000s cute aesthetic," she said, admitting that some people her age "just don't like it or think it's childish".
From Barron's
After 3½ decades of Francoism, during which, the author reminds us, the dictator “decided that Spaniards were too childish to govern themselves,” there was a palpable sense of a nation orphaned.
Such a strategy would be a childish way for this adult man to act.
From Salon
This train of thought may sound childish, but bear in mind that Penelope had muddled through without her parents for many a year.
From Literature
There was the picnic hamper of sandwiches, the trunk full of supplies, the cave walls full of Beowulf’s childish scrawls.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
