babish

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈbeɪbɪʃ/ UK /ˈbeɪbɪʃ/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
like a baby; childish or babyish

He resented her babish habit of pouting whenever she lost.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · like a baby; childish or... childish babyish infantile puerile immature

Opposites

mature adult

Word family

Related forms babe baby babyish

Etymology

From babe ('infant') + the adjective suffix -ish, on the model of childish.

babe Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# babish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈbeɪbɪʃ
**IPA (UK):** ˈbeɪbɪʃ

## Meanings
1. like a baby; childish or babyish

## Examples
- He resented her babish habit of pouting whenever she lost.

## Synonyms
- childish
- babyish
- infantile
- puerile
- immature

## Antonyms
- mature
- adult

## Related Forms
- babe
- baby
- babyish

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: babe

## Etymology
From babe ('infant') + the adjective suffix -ish, on the model of childish.

## AI Etymology
babish comes from babe ('infant') + the adjective suffix -ish, on the model of childish. Morphologically, the word is transparent: -ish is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the adjective sense is "like a baby; childish or babyish", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as babe, baby, babyish, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Middle English babe, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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babish

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