infantile

[ in-fuhn-tahyl, -til ]

/ ˈɪn fənˌtaɪl, -tɪl /

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adjective

characteristic of or befitting an infant; babyish; childish: infantile behavior.

of or relating to infants or infancy: infantile diseases.

Nearby words

infant prodigy, infant school, infanta, infante, infanticide, infantile, infantile acropustulosis, infantile autism, infantile cortical hyperostosis, infantile digital fibromatosis, infantile eczema

Origin of infantile

From the Latin word infantīlis, dating back to 1690–1700. See infant, -ile

SYNONYMS FOR infantile

1 puerile, immature, weak.

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ANTONYMS FOR infantile

1 adult, mature.

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Related forms

in·fan·til·i·ty

[in-fuhn-til-i-tee] /ˌɪn fənˈtɪl ɪ ti/, noun

Synonym study

1. See childish.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for infantile

At one point, Valle offered an apology to anybody who had been “hurt, shocked or offended by my infantile actions.”
Why NYPD Couldn’t Cook The ‘Cannibal Cop’|Michael Daly|July 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was sweet and funny and self-deprecating, nothing like the infantile behavior she had just displayed.
Supermodel Iman Walked Out on Me|Kevin Sessums|November 10, 2010|DAILY BEAST
It's how we project our own catastrophe of infantile adulthood.
2009: The Most Impulsive Year Ever|Lee Siegel|December 18, 2009|DAILY BEAST
He had to content himself with continuing his memoir on infantile cholera and his observations on the silk-worm moth.
Life of Elie Metchnikoff, 1845-1916|Olga Metchnikoff

Thus it becomes more certain that the unconscious in our psychic life is the infantile.
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis|Sigmund Freud
It is sometimes said that infantile mortality is an economic question, and that with improvement in wages it would cease.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 (of 6)|Havelock Ellis
Andrews refers to the occurrence of eczema in his description of infantile beriberi.
Scurvy Past and Present|Alfred Fabian Hess
Here again appears plainly the return to the infantile erotic.
Sleep Walking and Moon Walking|Isidor Isaak Sadger

British Dictionary definitions for infantile

infantile

/ (ˈɪnfənˌtaɪl) /

adjective

like a child in action or behaviour; childishly immature; puerile

of, relating to, or characteristic of infants or infancy

in an early stage of development

Derived Forms

infantility (ˌɪnfənˈtɪlɪtɪ), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for infantile

infantile

[ ĭn′fən-tīl′, -tĭl ]

adj.

Of or relating to infants or infancy.

Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; extremely childish.