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Synonyms

inner child

American  

  1. the childlike aspect of a person's psyche, especially when viewed as an independent entity.

    healing your inner child through psychotherapy.
inner child British  

noun

  1. psychol the part of the psyche believed to retain feelings as they were experienced in childhood

"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

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.

Trying to put the decision in context, he described everyone's inner child as wanting to be loved, and said: "Cutting off a parent is getting rid of that chance of being loved."

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

Chainey said he tried to portray them as "the inner child locked away in all of us", drawn to mud, mischief and the thrill of breaking rules.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

Olson plays these moments of realization with a wide-eyed innocence, allowing DJ’s inner child to temporarily crack the prickly walls she’s built to protect herself from her mother’s constant failure to nurture and support her.

From Salon • May 16, 2025

L.A. will then have its own sort of Willy Wonka, a video game-loving, chocolate-obsessed magnate who never lost his inner child or compulsion for curiosity.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2025

I guess there’s a weird part of my inner child that just can’t seem to let go of the idea of a mother who cares.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

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.