infantine

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɪnfəntaɪn/ UK /ˈɪnfəntaɪn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
of or like an infant; childish or babyish

There was something infantine in his sulking refusal to answer.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

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

Opposites

mature adult

Word family

Related forms infant infantile infancy

Etymology

From French infantin, from Latin infans ('infant'), from in- ('not') + fans, present participle of fari ('to speak').

infans Latin fari Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# infantine

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

## Meanings
1. of or like an infant; childish or babyish

## Examples
- There was something infantine in his sulking refusal to answer.

## Synonyms
- infantile
- childish
- babyish
- juvenile
- immature

## Antonyms
- mature
- adult

## Related Forms
- infant
- infantile
- infancy

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

## Etymology
From French infantin, from Latin infans ('infant'), from in- ('not') + fans, present participle of fari ('to speak').

## AI Etymology
infantine comes from French infantin, from Latin infans ('infant'), from in- ('not') + fans, present participle of fari ('to speak'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the adjective sense is "of or like an infant; childish or babyish", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as infant, infantile, and infancy. Its semantic neighborhood includes infantile, childish, babyish, and juvenile, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin infans and Latin fari.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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