infantilize

I1N1F4A1N1T1I1L1I1Z10E1
US/ɪnˈfæn.tɪ.laɪz/

verb

To reduce (an adult) to the state or status of an infant.

Opposite
adultify
Scrabble 23
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Meanings

verbinfantilize (third-person singular simple present infantilizes, present participle infantilizing, simple past and past participle infantilized)

present singular third person infantilizes · participle present infantilizing · participle past infantilized · past infantilized · alternative infantilise

  1. transitiveTo reduce (an adult) to the state or status of an infant.

    For too long, many of us have sought unity by binding ourselves together with the umbilical cords of dogma. They have done less and less to nurture us in recent years, and more and more to infantilize us.

    1984 August 18, Scott Tucker, “The Politics of Perversion”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, page 8
    1 more example

    Once [Chile] began the transition to democracy in the 1990s, two journalists, Álvaro Díaz González and Pedro Peirano, set out to design a children’s show that they themselves would want to watch – steeped in humor and political criticism, and where children wouldn’t be infantilized.

    2026 June 4, Andalusia K. Soloff, “Politics and puppets: The enduring appeal of ‘31 Minutos’”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC
  2. transitiveTo treat (an adult) like a child.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
adultify
Also see
patronize

Origin

From infantile + -ize (“make into”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan infantilitzar, infantilitzar
  • infantilitzarto reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantilitzarto treat like a child
Dutch infantiliseren, infantiliseren
  • infantiliserento reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantiliserento treat like a child
Esperanto infanigi
  • infanigito treat like a child
Finnish infantilisoida, kohdella kuin lasta
  • infantilisoidato reduce to the state of an infant
  • kohdella kuin lastato treat like a child
French infantiliser, infantiliser
  • infantiliserto reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantiliserto treat like a child
German infantilisieren, infantilisieren
  • infantilisierento reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantilisierento treat like a child
Italian infantilizzare, infantilizzare
  • infantilizzareto reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantilizzareto treat like a child
Polish infantylizować, zinfantylizować
  • infantylizowaćto reduce to the state of an infant
  • zinfantylizowaćto reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantylizowaćto treat like a child
  • zinfantylizowaćto treat like a child
Portuguese infantilizar, infantilizar
  • infantilizarto reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantilizarto treat like a child
Spanish infantilizar, infantilizar
  • infantilizarto reduce to the state of an infant
  • infantilizarto treat like a child
Swedish förbarnsliga
  • förbarnsligato treat like a child
Cite this entry
APA

infantilize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infantilize

MLA

“infantilize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infantilize. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “infantilize,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infantilize.

Source: infantilize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.