infantile

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɪnfəntaɪl/ UK /ˈɪnfəntaɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
of or like an infant; childishly immature

His infantile tantrum embarrassed everyone at the meeting.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · of or like an infant;... childish immature babyish puerile juvenile callow

Opposites

mature adult grown-up

Word family

Derived forms infantilisminfantilityinfantilize

Related forms infant infancy infantine

Etymology

From Latin infantilis ('pertaining to an infant'), from infans ('infant'), from in- ('not') + fans, present participle of fari ('to speak'); literally 'not speaking'.

infantilis Latin fari Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# infantile

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

## Meanings
1. of or like an infant; childishly immature

## Examples
- His infantile tantrum embarrassed everyone at the meeting.

## Synonyms
- childish
- immature
- babyish
- puerile
- juvenile
- callow

## Antonyms
- mature
- adult
- grown-up

## Derived Forms
- infantilism
- infantility
- infantilize

## Related Forms
- infant
- infancy
- infantine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: infantilis
- Root: fari

## Etymology
From Latin infantilis ('pertaining to an infant'), from infans ('infant'), from in- ('not') + fans, present participle of fari ('to speak'); literally 'not speaking'.

## AI Etymology
Infantile comes from Latin infantilis ('pertaining to an infant'), from infans ('infant'), from in- ('not') + fans, present participle of fari ('to speak'); literally 'not speaking'. The prefix supplies the first semantic turn, while the base carries the lexical core of the word. As an adjective, it carries the sense "of or like an infant; childishly immature", with the older formation still helping explain the modern use. Relevant historical forms include Latin infantilis and Latin fari. Derivative forms include infantilism, infantility, infantilize; related words include infant, infancy, infantine.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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