infantilized

adjective

as in infantile

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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 infantilized When one friend is habitually the payer, others may feel grateful, indebted, infantilized or even relieved. — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026 Del Toro presents Oscar Isaac’s Frankenstein and Elordi’s Creature less as equals terrorizing each other and more as an abusive father and neglected son, a dynamic that keeps the Creature in a sort of infantilized state. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infantilized
  1. infantile
  2. childish
  3. babyish
  4. adolescent
  5. young
  6. juvenile
  7. immature
Adjective
  • Ultimately, kneading is a multi-faceted trait, showcasing how domestication retains infantile aspects in adult cats.
    — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • Miami’s infantile offense can’t afford to carry this team.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 12 June 2026
Definition of infantile
Adjective
  • James’s obsessive love, his unwillingness to go on without his beloved, is treated as childish, if not a version of sweaty insanity.
    — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
  • In just a few short weeks, his childish, naive world becomes brutally adult.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of childish
Adjective
  • Suzanne O’Donnell, an accomplished regional theater actor with a lot of Shakespeare on her resume, plays Penrose as both a warm mothering figure to these two occasionally babyish men but does not downplay the character’s pragmatic side.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Paige is little more than a dumb blonde stereotype, another underwritten female character in Sheridan’s growing oeuvre, but Chapman laces her babyish whining with surprising bite, while showing a knack for physical comedy.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of babyish
Adjective
  • Once dismissed as overly sweet, hyper-feminine, or adolescent, the best gourmand fragrances have since evolved.
    — Danielle James, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2026
  • If developmental science justifies treating adolescent offenders differently from adults, then that same science should also inform how Connecticut recognizes, protects, and supports adolescent victims.
    — Keith Wortz, Hartford Courant, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of adolescent
Adjective
  • Prince Harry was already set to be in Britain next month for an annual ceremony run by WellChild, a charity that cares for seriously ill children and young people in the UK.
    — Max Foster, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The tinted windows looked out onto the courts where Richardson trained some of the best young female players in the Rio Grande Valley, but the glass was one-way, and from outside, nothing that happened in the room was visible.
    — Molly Hensley-Clancy, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of young
Adjective
  • Even tiny, young stars will eat up to 18 juvenile sea urchins each day.
    — John Ryan, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026
  • The man who killed rapper Pop Smoke got caught smuggling fentanyl into juvenile hall.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of juvenile
Adjective
  • There’s nothing wrong with holding on to childhood and being a little immature from time to time.
    — Loren Savini, Allure, 22 Aug. 2026
  • The acclaimed writer Rachel Cusk’s controversial new novel Life of M is an intimate, unvarnished character study of an A-list movie star who is depicted as hollow, immature and cynical, an intellectual poseur and an artist wannabe.
    — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of immature

Browse Nearby Words

infantile
infantilized
infantine
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Cite this Entry

“Infantilized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infantilized. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

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