childlike

See also: child-like

English

Etymology

From child +‎ -like.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪldlaɪk/

Adjective

childlike (comparative more childlike, superlative most childlike)

1. Innocent and trustful; credulous; artless.

   Synonyms: credulous, unworldly; see also Thesaurus:naive

2. Of, like, or suitable for a child.

   Synonyms: childish, childly; see also Thesaurus:childlike

   • 2019 May 8, Jon Bailes, “Save yourself! The video games casting us as helpless children”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Even Mario is given childlike mannerisms – running open-armed like a fearless toddler, whooping with delight – to convey playful innocence.

Quotations

• 1859, Henry Barnard, Pestalozzi and Pestalozzianism:

  And on the other hand, fatherly and childlike feelings in the national spirit, are the sources of all pure national blessings.

• 1894, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Lessings Nathan Der Weise:

  He certainly has childlike simplicity, and all the qualities which go to make up a true Christian character.

Derived terms

• childlikeness
• nonchildlike
• unchildlike

 

Related terms

• childish

Translations

innocent and trustful; credulous; artless

• Albanian: fëmijëror (sq)
• German: kindlich (de)
• Hungarian: gyermeki (hu)
• Old English: ċildlīċ
• Serbo-Croatian: djetinji (sh)

of, like, or suitable for a child

• German: kindlich (de)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (barnisks)
• Middle English: childly
• Old English: ċildlīċ
• Serbo-Croatian: dječji (sh)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: źiśecy

• Spanish: infantil (es)

References

• “childlike”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “childlike”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.