childish

English

Etymology

From Middle English childisch, from Old English ċildisċ. By surface analysis, child +‎ ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪldɪʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪldɪʃ
• Hyphenation: child‧ish

Adjective

childish (comparative more childish, superlative most childish)

1. Immature in thought or behaviour.

   Your childish temper tantrums are not going to change my decision on this matter.

2. belonging to or suitable for a child.
   • 1824, Susan Ferrier, The Inheritance, page 130:

     She remembered, too, when, after a long childish illness, her father had carried her in his arms to the garden, […]

   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

     As I walked to and fro daily between Southwark and Blackfriars, and lounged about at meal-times in obscure streets, the stones of which may, for anything I know, be worn at this moment by my childish feet, I wonder how many of these people were wanting in the crowd that used to come filing before me in review again, to the echo of Captain Hopkins’s voice!

Synonyms

• (immature): infantile, immature, silly, unbecoming, juvenile, puerile; see also Thesaurus:childish
• (belonging to or suitable for a child): childly, juvenile, kiddish, child (as modifier); see also Thesaurus:childlike

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “behaving immaturely”): adultish, mature
• (antonym(s) of “belonging to or suitable for a child”): adult, adultlike

Derived terms

• childishly
• childishness
• overchildish
• unchildish

Related terms

• childlike

Translations

behaving immaturely

Aghwan: 𐕘𐔰𐕙𐔴𐕒𐕡𐕎𐕒𐕡𐕎 (ġareunun) Arabic: طُفُولِيّ m (ṭufūliyy) Armenian: երեխայական (hy) (erexayakan), մանկական (hy) (mankakan), տհաս (hy) (thas) Belarusian: дзіця́чы (dzicjáčy), інфанты́льны (infantýlʹny) Bulgarian: детински (bg) (detinski), инфантилен (bg) (infantilen) Chinese: Mandarin: 幼稚 (zh) (yòuzhì), 孩子氣 / 孩子气 (zh) (háiziqì) Czech: dětinský (cs) Dutch: kinderachtig (nl), infantiel (nl) Esperanto: infanaĵa Estonian: lapsik Finnish: lapsellinen (fi) French: puéril (fr), gamin (fr) German: kindisch (de) Greek: παιδιάστικος (el) (paidiástikos), παιδαριώδης (el) (paidariódis) Hebrew: ילדותי (he) (yalduti) Hungarian: gyerekes (hu) Icelandic: barnalegur (is) Ido: puerala (io), pueratra (io) Indonesian: kekanak-kanakan Irish: leanbaí, páistiúil Italian: infantile (it), bambinesco (it), puerile (it) Japanese: 幼稚 (ja) (ようち, yōchi), 子供っぽい (ja) (こどもっぽい, kodomoppoi), 子供じみた (こどもじみた, kodomo jimita) Khmer: ង៉ែត (km) (ŋaet) Latin: puerīlis Lithuanian: vaikiškas Macedonian: детински (detinski), детинест (detinest) Malayalam: ബാലിശ (ml) (bāliśa), ബാലിശമായ (ml) (bāliśamāya) Manchu: ᠵᡠᠰᡝᡴᡳ (juseki) Maori: ngākau pāpaku Middle English: childissh Norwegian: Bokmål: barnslig Nynorsk: barnsleg Old English: ċildisċ Old Norse: bernskr, bernskligr Persian: بچه‌گانه (bečče-gâne) Polish: dziecinny (pl), infantylny (pl) Portuguese: infantil (pt), imaturo (pt) Romanian: copilăros (ro), imatur (ro), pueril (ro), infantil (ro) Russian: ребя́ческий (ru) (rebjáčeskij), инфанти́льный (ru) (infantílʹnyj), де́тский (ru) (détskij) Slovene: otróčji (sl) Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: źiśecy Spanish: infantil (es), infantiloide, pueril (es), aniñado (es), niñato (es) Swedish: barnslig (sv), pueril (sv) Tagalog: isip-bata Turkish: çocuksu (tr), çocuğumsu (tr) Ukrainian: дитиня́чий (dytynjáčyj), дитя́чий (dytjáčyj), інфанти́льний (infantýlʹnyj) Welsh: plentynnaidd (cy)

belonging to or suitable for a child

Arabic: طُفُولِيّ m (ṭufūliyy) Armenian: մանկական (hy) (mankakan) Belarusian: дзіця́чы (dzicjáčy) Bulgarian: детски (bg) (detski), бебешки (bebeški) Dutch: kinderlijk (nl) Finnish: lapsi-, lapsenomainen (fi) French: enfantin (fr), puéril (fr) German: kindlich (de), kindgerecht (de) Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (barnisks) Greek: παιδικός (el) (paidikós) Ancient: παιδικός (paidikós) Hebrew: ילדותי (he) (yalduti) Hungarian: gyerekes (hu), gyerek- (hu) Icelandic: barnslegur (is) Ido: puerala (io) Irish: páistiúil Jamaican Creole: fi pickney Japanese: 子供向き (こどもむき, kodomo muki) Latin: puerīlis Lithuanian: vaikiškas Luxembourgish: kannereg Macedonian: детски (detski) Middle English: childissh Old English: ċildisċ Persian: بچه‌گانه (bečče-gâne) Polish: dziecięcy (pl) Portuguese: infantil (pt) Russian: де́тский (ru) (détskij), ребя́ческий (ru) (rebjáčeskij) Spanish: para niños, infantil (es) Swedish: barnslig (sv) Ukrainian: дитя́чий (dytjáčyj)