as in immature
having or showing the annoying qualities (as silliness) associated with children
you almost spoiled the ceremony for everyone with your childish giggling
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Recent Examples of childish
By the second half of the twentieth century, media depictions of bicycles often showed them as something exclusively for children, or for odd, childish adults.
—
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 Mar. 2026
That would be childish as hell.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 4 Mar. 2026
The queen—blond, leggy, wearing dark glasses and a red flapper dress—lounges on an armchair while ministers in suits delight their childish king by dancing with him, turning him and his big belly in cartwheels and the like.
—Jennifer Homans, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Hence the childish clown imagery in an era before coulrophobia was widely talked about.
—Fielding Buck, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for childish
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 Mar. 2026
That would be childish as hell.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 4 Mar. 2026
The queen—blond, leggy, wearing dark glasses and a red flapper dress—lounges on an armchair while ministers in suits delight their childish king by dancing with him, turning him and his big belly in cartwheels and the like.
—Jennifer Homans, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Hence the childish clown imagery in an era before coulrophobia was widely talked about.
—Fielding Buck, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for childish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for childish
Adjective
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Yet this widely available gourd—harvested and eaten while still immature, in fact, for ripe cucumbers are yellow and bitter—is not the entirety of the plant.—
Andrés Muedano,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Mar. 2026
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Preterm and low-birth-weight babies are at higher risk than full-term babies of developing NEC, potentially because of their immature digestive systems, according to the National Institutes of Health.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Some of her adolescent outbursts and antics (that were so delicious to play).—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
29 Mar. 2026
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Any full-length conversation between Tua Tagovailoa and his adolescent self would, eventually, disclose details of the dark days.—
Daniel Flick - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
AJC.com,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Over a two-year period, researchers at the Shark Lab used drones to study more than two dozen beaches up and down the California coastline and found juvenile white sharks congregating at two spots in southern Santa Barbara County and central San Diego County.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
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The two offenders were sentenced to two years of probation and 60 hours of community service each − one hour for each victim, Judge Leonard Brown said − meaning they will not be put into a juvenile detention facility, while technically remaining under the supervision of the juvenile justice system.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Childish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/childish. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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