infantilism

[ in-fuhn-tl-iz-uhm, -tahy-liz-, in-fan-tl-iz-uhm ]

noun

1. the persistence in an adult of markedly childish anatomical, physiological, or psychological characteristics.
2. an infantile act, trait, etc., especially in an adult.
3. a speech disorder characterized by speech and voice patterns that are typical of very young children.

infantilism

/ ɪnˈfæntɪˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. psychol
   1. a condition in which an older child or adult is mentally or physically undeveloped
   2. isolated instances of infantile behaviour in mature persons
2. childish speech; baby talk

Word History and Origins

Origin of infantilism¹

First recorded in 1890–95; infantile + -ism

Example Sentences

In 1919, when Wharton, herself an expatriate in Paris, wrote that “compared with the women of France, the average American woman is still in the kindergarten,” she might as well have been talking about Emily, whose stock-in-trade is a unique brand of empty infantilism.

From New York Times

The separation of those functions inoculates Britain from the infantilism peculiar to the American republic.

From Washington Post

Because much of what royalty does amounts to public relations for itself, its occupational hazard is infantilism, to which several merry wives of Windsor and their disoriented husbands succumbed in recent decades.

From Washington Post

It’s a childish move, but in keeping with the infantilism that still shapes the brothers’ uneasy relationship and their awkwardness with outsiders, particularly women.

From New York Times

Others might speculate on this, but only I can truly channel Trump, since only I possess the requisite degree of infantilism:

From Washington Post

Related Words

• ignorance
• imperfection