childlike

childlike — adjective

1. describing an adult whose manner or attitude has the positive qualities we assoc

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing an adult whose manner or attitude has the positive qualities we associate with young children, such as openness, honesty, a sense of wonder, and a willingness to trust others.

Example

Grandpa Lin has a childlike curiosity that makes him ask endless questions about new technology.

collocation: childlike curiosity

Even after years in politics, the mayor kept a childlike enthusiasm for helping ordinary people.

collocation: childlike enthusiasm

Common collocations
  • childlike curiosity
  • childlike wonder
  • childlike enthusiasm
  • childlike innocence
  • childlike trust
  • childlike faith
  • childlike simplicity
Synonyms
  • innocent

    overlaps with childlike on honesty and lack of guile, but 'innocent' can also mean 'not guilty' or 'inexperienced' in a broader sense.

  • pure

    even stronger positive connotation of moral goodness; more literary and less common in everyday speech.

  • unspoiled

    focuses on not having been corrupted by experience; rarer and more formal than childlike.

Antonyms
  • childish

    the negative counterpart — describes immature, self-centred, or unreasonable adult behaviour.

  • jaded

    describes someone who has lost enthusiasm and trust through negative experience; the opposite of childlike wonder.

  • worldly

    describes someone experienced and sophisticated, lacking the naivety of a childlike person.

Grammar Patterns

childlike + noun

be + childlike

Usage Note

Distinguish this word from childISH. ChildLIKE describes positive qualities (innocence, wonder, honesty) and is always complimentary. ChildISH describes immature or inappropriate behaviour (tantrums, selfishness) and is always critical. For example: 'her childlike trust' (admirable) vs 'his childish jealousy' (unpleasant). The suffix gives the tone: -like suggests resemblance; -ish suggests a fault.

Common Mistakes

Stop being so childlike and accept that you cannot always get what you want.
Stop being so childish and accept that you cannot always get what you want.
'childlike' is positive; use 'childish' to criticise immature behaviour.
She has a childlike temper that makes her cry when she loses a game.
She has a childish temper that makes her cry when she loses a game.
temper and crying are negative traits, so 'childish' is the correct word.
The toddler's childlike smile won everyone over.
The toddler's innocent smile won everyone over.
'childlike' is reserved for adults; for actual children, use 'innocent' or simply omit.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

The key distinction is between childlike and childish: childlike is positive (admirable qualities of childhood like wonder and honesty), while childish is negative (immature behaviour like tantrums or selfishness). Innocent overlaps with childlike on the idea of moral purity and lack of guile, but innocent also has legal and experiential meanings ('not guilty', 'not exposed to something') that childlike lacks. Naive is the trickiest of the four: it can mean simply inexperienced (neutral) or foolishly trusting (negative), whereas childlike is always admiring. Use childlike when you want to pay a compliment about someone's fresh outlook; use naive when you want to point out a lack of real-world judgment. For example: 'Her childlike faith in people was touching' vs 'Her naive faith in that scam artist was worrying.'

childlike ↗childish ↗innocent ↗naive ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed in English around the 1580s from child (Old English cild, meaning a fetus or infant) + -like (from Old English gelic, meaning having the form or qualities of). Unlike the older word childish (from Old English cildisc), which had already acquired a negative tone by the 1500s, childlike was coined specifically to express the admired qualities of childhood without the criticism that childish carried.