baby 1 of 3

1
2
3
4
as in complainer
a person who makes frequent complaints usually about little things don't be such a baby—the shot didn't hurt that much

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

baby

2 of 3

verb

baby

3 of 3

adjective

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb baby contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of baby are humor, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper, and spoil. While all these words mean "to show undue favor to a person's desires and feelings," baby suggests excessive care, attention, or solicitude.

babying students by grading too easily

When might humor be a better fit than baby?

The synonyms humor and baby are sometimes interchangeable, but humor stresses a yielding to a person's moods or whims.

humored him by letting him tell the story

When can indulge be used instead of baby?

The words indulge and baby can be used in similar contexts, but indulge implies excessive compliance and weakness in gratifying another's or one's own desires.

indulged myself with food at the slightest excuse

Where would mollycoddle be a reasonable alternative to baby?

The words mollycoddle and baby are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, mollycoddle suggests an excessive degree of care and attention to another's health or welfare.

refused to mollycoddle her malingering son

In what contexts can pamper take the place of baby?

In some situations, the words pamper and baby are roughly equivalent. However, pamper implies inordinate gratification of desire for luxury and comfort with consequent enervating effect.

pampered by the amenities of modern living

When would spoil be a good substitute for baby?

The meanings of spoil and baby largely overlap; however, spoil stresses the injurious effects on character by indulging or pampering.

foolish parents spoil their children

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of baby
Verb
Krisan is due to give birth to a baby boy next month. Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2025 Baptista is Portuguese, and the baby’s name is a nod to her roots and her family surname. Sarah Scott, Parents, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Conceivably one or two of them should have already been at Citi Field, but until finally summoning McLean to pitch Saturday, Stearns has been babying them in the minors. Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 16 Aug. 2025 However, some have criticized employer techniques for tracking in-office attendance as babying employees and demonstrating an unwarranted lack of trust. Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 8 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for baby
Recent Examples of Synonyms for baby
Noun
  • The increase — up from 1 in 36 children in 2020 — continues a long-term trend that experts have largely attributed to better understanding of and screening for the condition.
    Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Even over-the-counter basics, like children’s Tylenol or chewable Pepto-Bismol, can be surprisingly hard to find abroad, especially in countries where pharmacies stock different formulations or ban certain medications altogether.
    Alesandra Dubin, Travel + Leisure, 31 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Though the serial killer in each installment of Scream is always revealed to be a different person, the phone voice has remained consistent since Jackson, now 65, took on the job back in 1996.
    Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The person didn’t respond to further questions, and phone calls to two numbers associated with the email address went unanswered.
    Max Tani, semafor.com, 30 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The desire for a more luxury lifestyle connects directly to the success of high-end real estate development in the Middle East.
    Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The actress was one of the women who contributed to Garavani’s success, along with Diana Vreeland and Jackie Kennedy, said Giammetti — as well as several high society women who quickly became part of the duo’s circle as well.
    Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 28 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The faculty experience has been that administrations often side with the complainers.
    Louis Menand, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Recognize Quieter Customers Celebrate the non-complainers.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • For Sofia Coppola’s remake of the 1971 Don Siegel drama, Farrell took on a role originally played by Clint Eastwood, as the wounded Union soldier who is sheltered and nursed by a group of young women in a seminary in Confederate Virginia.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Many years have passed since nursing home patients lived in the Redlands Road building, the obscure permit on which the occupancy rested has lapsed.
    Lou Murray, Boston Herald, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The mini-drama trend started out predominantly in Asia but has expanded globally of late, and was a big discussion point at the recent MIPCOM Cannes as commissioners and sellers look to take advantage.
    Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The rich brown leather and gold buckle combo instantly elevates even your simplest outfits, whether that’s jeans and a tee or a knit mini dress.
    Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, offers food benefits, breastfeeding services and nutrition education to 65,000 Arkansas women, infants and children younger than five.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The infant could be heard making sounds of struggling to breathe as the officers continued CPR.
    Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • As previously reported by PEOPLE, the two men were arrested after the Paris Banditry Repression Brigade (BRB) and the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC) led an investigation into the robbery on Saturday, according to French outlets Le Parisien and Paris Match.
    Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
  • That’s especially problematic for aging science given that men and women age differently.
    Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Baby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/baby. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.

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