childlike
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See also: child-like
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]childlike (comparative more childlike, superlative most childlike)
- Innocent and trustful; credulous; artless.
- Synonyms: credulous, unworldly; see also Thesaurus:naive
- Of, like, or suitable for a child.
- Synonyms: childish, childly; see also Thesaurus:childlike
- 2019 May 8, Jon Bailes, “Save yourself! The video games casting us as helpless children”, in The Guardian[1]:
- Even Mario is given childlike mannerisms – running open-armed like a fearless toddler, whooping with delight – to convey playful innocence.
Quotations
[edit]- 1859, Henry Barnard, Pestalozzi and Pestalozzianism:
- And on the other hand, fatherly and childlike feelings in the national spirit, are the sources of all pure national blessings.
- 1894, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Lessings Nathan Der Weise:
- He certainly has childlike simplicity, and all the qualities which go to make up a true Christian character.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]innocent and trustful; credulous; artless
of, like, or suitable for a child
References
[edit]- “childlike”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “childlike”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.