Skip to main content
childlike

childlike

36 3.7
Being innocent, trusting, and simple like a child
  • adjective
  • /ˈtʃaɪldˌlaɪk/
translation icon : inocente
  • And he just had this childlike innocence about faith.
  • childlike innocence
  • childlike wonder
  • childlike and innocent

Don't lose your instincts, your childlike instincts for telling stories.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • My teacher said a person can be childlike without being childish.

  • There was something childlike about her, trustful and deferential, like a child.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Even when times were tough, my childlike spirit never died.

  • You know, you laugh more and play more if you keep that childlike sense of wonder.

  • And that can often start with a childlike curiosity about the world.

  • But it's a childlike amazement that fuels us to ask.

  • Leonard turns to Sayer's voice with an expression of childlike wonder on his face.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Despite his graying beard, his enthusiasm is childlike when he talks about his work.

    Academic text (2008)
  • There was actually something appealing in this, something naive and childlike that disarmed criticism.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Despite his graying beard, his enthusiasm is childlike when he talks about his work.

Synonyms

simple
vschildlike
44 7.7

Having childlike trust and little experience of life

means positive, admirable innocence rather than foolish credulity
dewy-eyed
vschildlike
  • Informal
1 7.4

Having a gentle, innocent trust in people or ideas

focuses on plain innocence rather than emotional idealism
kidlike
vschildlike
2.9

Having the innocent, playful curiosity of a child

applies specifically to an adult retaining those qualities
babylike
vschildlike
3.1

Having the looks, voice, or behavior of a baby

describes an adult with gentle innocence not very young appearance

Antonyms

40 6.3

Feeling bored and tired after doing or seeing something too often

4.2

Having actions and feelings like a grown person

How Childlike

innocent
54 3.4
childlike
36 3.7
wide-eyed
27 3.4
naive
312 4.1

Surface Forms

childlike positive

Morphology

childlike = child (transparent) = child + like

The meaning is directly derived from 'child' + the adjectival suffix '-like', meaning 'resembling or having qualities of a child'.

Etymology

Childlike comes from the simple parts child and -like, where -like means 'similar to' or 'in the way of'. So childlike means 'similar to a child', showing innocence, trust, or a simple sense of wonder.