Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or suitable for a child or childhood: a high, childish voice; childish nightmares.
- adj. Marked by or indicating a lack of maturity; puerile: tired of your childish pranks.
- adj. Not complicated; simple.
- adj. Affected mentally by old age; senile.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or belonging to a child or to childhood: as, “sweet childish days,” Wordsworth, To a Butterfly.
- Like or characteristic of a child or what is peculiar to childhood; especially, in disparaging use, trifling, puerile, silly, weak, etc.: as, childish amusements; childish fear.
- Synonyms Childlike, Infantile, etc. See childlike.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of or suitable for a child.
- adj. Behaving immaturely.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of, pertaining to, befitting, or resembling, a child.
- adj. Puerile; trifling; weak.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. indicating a lack of maturity
Etymologies
- child + -ish (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Marco Reininger, a veteran and political science major at Columbia, wrote on The Huffington Post that, despite what he called the childish catcalls that greeted Maschek, the institution as a whole is neither as elitist nor as condescending as the media firestorm suggests.”
“With tear-filled eyes, my younger siblings and I waved goodbye as one by one the older kids deserted us and what they termed our childish ways.”
Simon & Schuster: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith
“Percy, who disapproved of what he termed their childish behavior, didn't spend much time in the Gryffindor common room.”
“At a private meeting at which only he, Ibn Sa'ud and I were present, he lost all patience over what he called the childish attitude of Ibn Sa'ud in his tribal boundary idea.”
“Both have, however, one common ground on which they become indistinguishable, -- that region of the supernatural which is most primitive and most vague; and the closest relation between the savage and the civilized fancy may be found in the fears which we call childish, -- of darkness, shadows, and things dreamed.”
“Certainly the French father might have followed the custom of his class and country, and coerced his young daughter into the acceptance of any husband he might have chosen for her; but he did not feel disposed to use harsh measures with his only and idolized child; he rather preferred to exercise patience and forbearance toward her, until she should have outlived what he called her childish caprices.”
“He'd like to use the word "childish" but feels it's too harsh.”
“Blagojevich also apologized to his family, his brother, and for his "self-absorbed behavior," which he called "childish and petty.”
“He knew the penetration of the Marquis was not to be imposed on by such a story to account for his swelled forehead as he had just told to Philippo, and he was well aware that that nobleman, guessing that he had met with the accident in the pursuit of some plan prompted by what he called a childish curiosity, would take occasion to point the severest ridicule against its indulgence.”
“To have such a wonderful power and be so childish is absolutely crazy.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘childish’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Fauvism
Words to describe art of the fauvist movement
wild, beast, color, fauve, fauvism, fauvist, avant garde, floating, violent, outrageous, radical, dynamite and 82 more...
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Unite 2
unspeakable, unavoidable, snobbish, sluggish, sizeable, rocky, reputable, numerous, moody, misty, knowledgeable, justifiable and 18 more...
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Favorites
ostensibly, surreptitiously, seriously, apparently, vociferous, guitar, asphalt, glee, glitter, fascinating, asynchronous, cunt and 128 more...
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feeling words
twitterpated, loquacious, ambiguous, pensive, sluggish, anxious, adventurous, curious, abandoned, absent-minded, abrasive, abused and 653 more...
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Prosie: Obama's Inaugural Address
In keeping with my other Prosies (like this one). There were a number of phrases as well as words in this speech that I found particularly compelling.
My fellow citizens: I stand here ...we did not turn b..., when we were tested, what storms may come, icy currents, virtue, hope, alarmed, depth of winter, revolution, snow, enemy, abandoned and 257 more...
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stories
edge
mysterious
unwilling
sacrifice
hummingbirds
stingray
suit
spine
delighted
random
sighedge, mysterious, sacrifice, spine, random, stingray, hummingbirds, unwilling, suit, sigh, delighted, childish and 34 more...
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Sheldon
This strange person, who I have the uttermost pleasure and joy in knowing, is described by the following list of words. Each word is no doubt perfect - and sometimes literal - in the likeness and a...
fun, lanky, turtle, good-natured, tenacious, charismatic, spirited, racy, brilliant, quick-witted, intellectual, musical and 3 more...
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MEC3 Lesson 139
character, forehead, wink, self-approval, hug, affectionately, affection, slam, set someone up, nod, terms, submissively and 3 more...
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Traits
shy, outspoken, blunt, dreary, childish, rebellious, independent, punctual, outgoing
Tweets
Looking for tweets for childish.
chained_bear "Joe Wilson is your pre-existing condition." A nice counterpoint to the Chuck Norris legends, I thought. Sep 10, 2009