Standard Lemma guide

childlike

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈt͡ʃaɪldlaɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: CH AY1 L D L AY2 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Innocent and trustful; credulous; artless.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: credulous, unworldly, artless, callow, childlike, verdant, clueless, dewy-eyed, cute, fleeceable, foppotee, green, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, jejune, Panglossian, Panglossic, quaint, simple, simple-hearted, simple-minded, starry-eyed, unaffected, undesigning, unpretentious, unsophisticated, untested, wide-eyed, immature, born yesterday, wet behind the ears, virgin

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of, like, or suitable for a child.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: childish, childly

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

befitting a young child

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • childlike charm

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: childly

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • childlike trust
  • dewy-eyed innocence
  • listened in round-eyed wonder

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wide-eyed, round-eyed, dewy-eyed, simple

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English child Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -like English -like English childlike From child + -like.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: fëmijëror — innocent and trustful; credulous; artless
  • German: kindlich — innocent and trustful; credulous; artless
  • Hungarian: gyermeki — innocent and trustful; credulous; artless
  • Old English: ċildlīċ — innocent and trustful; credulous; artless
  • Serbo-Croatian: djetinji — innocent and trustful; credulous; artless
  • German: kindlich — of, like, or suitable for a child
  • Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (barnisks) — of, like, or suitable for a child
  • Middle English: childly — of, like, or suitable for a child
  • Old English: ċildlīċ — of, like, or suitable for a child
  • Serbo-Croatian: dječji — of, like, or suitable for a child
  • Lower Sorbian: źiśecy — of, like, or suitable for a child
  • Spanish: infantil — of, like, or suitable for a child
Real reading context

childlike in complete knowledge articles

The Skinny (film) Arts & music · Advanced · 1 uses