infantilism
Americannoun
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the persistence in an adult of markedly childish anatomical, physiological, or psychological characteristics.
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an infantile act, trait, etc., especially in an adult.
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a speech disorder characterized by speech and voice patterns that are typical of very young children.
noun
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psychol
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a condition in which an older child or adult is mentally or physically undeveloped
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isolated instances of infantile behaviour in mature persons
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childish speech; baby talk
Etymology
Origin of infantilism
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.
Because much of what royalty does amounts to public relations for itself, its occupational hazard is infantilism, to which several merry wives of Windsor and their disoriented husbands succumbed in recent decades.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 8, 2022
It’s a childish move, but in keeping with the infantilism that still shapes the brothers’ uneasy relationship and their awkwardness with outsiders, particularly women.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2021
Not even Tolkien’s vast philological scholarship, his deep knowledge of mythology, and his world-building skills could impress what Moorcock and company saw as a troublesome infantilism inherent in Tolkien’s work.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 31, 2014
Even my son’s embarrassed by the infantilism of my tastes, but there’s some good stuff out there now.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 25, 2014
Then there is infantilism, which is helped by the giving of thyroid extract.
From The Glands Regulating Personality by Berman, Louis, M.D.
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.
