CHILDISHNESS Synonyms: 122 Similar and Opposite Words

childishness

noun

as in nonsense

Related Words

Relevance

as in inexperience

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 childishness Lonnie is a Ferrell-ian blend of narcissism and good-natured childishness, but of the wishy-washiest type. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026 The childishness of his expressions infantilized a genuinely vicious regime, painting it as more peevish than petrifying. — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026 The actor relishes all aspects of Dahl’s childishness, and the humanity within the beast emerges in small moments. — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026 Cove, on West Houston Street, does not mark an especially obvious step into maturity or anything narratively pat like that, because McGarry’s cooking and his businesses have never really had so much as a hint of childishness to begin with. — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026 The gesture’s lack of dignity, its childishness, its pettiness, are completely in character. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 25 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for childishness

Noun

No leader should stay as commander in chief after having the mindset to utter such nonsense.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026
Even much of that seeming nonsense, though, is ostensibly correct.

— Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of nonsense

Noun

Two-time champion DeWanna Bonner’s extensive postseason experience — her 100 WNBA playoff games are the most in history — does help offset the team’s overall inexperience.

— Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 3 Oct. 2026
As Clark mentioned, her relative playoff inexperience is somewhat surprising for a player of her caliber.

— Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of inexperience

Noun

Russell was mentioned in that speech, but in a joking way, playing off of how frequent Oscars director Glenn Weiss, who won for his role helming the 2018 Academy Awards telecast, had used his speech to propose to his then-girlfriend.

— Hilary Lewis, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2026
Arch Manning's joking comments at a news conference about a fake video of coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe erupted in controversy.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of joking

Noun

Credibility question Corbett’s own sincerity, however, has been called into question in a defamation lawsuit regarding claims made against a client’s opponent in Burr Ridge’s 2019 mayoral race.

— Dan Petrella, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Their sincerity and humor come from the cast’s commitment to the mundane, said Ron Oliver, writer and director of many Hallmark films.

— Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of sincerity

Noun

The novel, published in 1988, foreshadowed the career to come by taking on, with disarming frankness, everything from child abuse to transracial adoption.

— Casey Cep, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
Horgan, whose Catastrophe charted the ups and downs of a relationship with painful, hilarious honesty, applies the same frankness to the minor indignities of midlife.

— Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of frankness

Noun

Hudson showed some subtle support for the jesting knocks to her boyfriend by reposting a clip of his final joke shared on Fox News' official X page.

— Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 18 May 2026
No matter what happened, Dunham could not seem to help posting through it, her public persona one of infinite jesting confession.

— Madeline Leung Coleman, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2026

Definition of jesting

Noun

Their impressiveness came from their straightforwardness, their precision and generosity of flavor, without needless curlicues or misguided deconstruction.

— Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
What is genuinely remarkable, though, is that this meteoric machine drives with the straightforwardness of a Toyota Camry.

— Sean Evans, Robb Report, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of straightforwardness

Browse Nearby Words

childish

childishness

childlike

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“Childishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/childishness. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of childishness

noun

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