as in childish
having or showing the annoying qualities (as silliness) associated with children
the infantile humor that teenage boys are justly famous for
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 infantile
The program is the legacy of Dr. Stephen Arnon, chief of the Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program at the California health department, who dedicated his life to finding a treatment for infantile botulism.
—
Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
The incredibly painful, totally infantile, Banana Republic government shutdown ends.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025
The infantile form of Tay-Sachs manifests between three and six months of age, undermining gross motor control, worsening into seizures, deafness, and paralysis, and death by age five.
—New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2025
Muscle Man is a deeply ironic book, creating a vast chasm between Harold’s strongman self-image and his infantile powers of self-expression.
—Robert Rubsam, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infantile
Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
The incredibly painful, totally infantile, Banana Republic government shutdown ends.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025
The infantile form of Tay-Sachs manifests between three and six months of age, undermining gross motor control, worsening into seizures, deafness, and paralysis, and death by age five.
—New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2025
Muscle Man is a deeply ironic book, creating a vast chasm between Harold’s strongman self-image and his infantile powers of self-expression.
—Robert Rubsam, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infantile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infantile
Adjective
-
Gombrowicz never really ‘assimilated’ to life in Argentina, partly due to the unique and unprecedented circumstances that brought him there in the first place, but also because of his naturally irreverent and at times even childish attitude towards literary establishment.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 May 2026
-
The literature on adolescence marks middle school as a turning point, a time when kids begin to pull away from their parents, discard childish pursuits, and pursue, full thrust, the exhausting project of individuation.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Only this week, Conway doubled down with a stunt in front of Mfume’s district office, an act that would be immature and juvenile in an elementary school student government election, let alone a campaign for Congress.—
Bobby Zirkin,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Faced with the prospect of deciding between Urlacher, a late bloomer in high school who almost wasn’t recruited before becoming a college All-American, and Michigan State receiver Plaxico Burress, regarded throughout the NFL as gifted but immature, the Bears did not have to choose.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
What supports adolescent contribution?—
Jen Agans,
The Conversation,
8 May 2026
-
For any adolescent, a private bedroom is both sanctuary and mood board.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
In general, juvenile crimes are more often committed with others, and images of roaming throngs of teens has an outsized presence in media and in the public’s amygdala.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
9 May 2026
-
When officers arrived at the scene, a juvenile boy was being loaded into an ambulance.—
Chelsea Hylton,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Infantile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infantile. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
