surgically induced childhood

noun

An infantile personality resulting from lobotomy, once thought to be an interim stage toward maturation and recovery from the original condition that lobotomy had been used to treat.

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Meanings

nounsurgically induced childhood (uncountable)
  1. historicaluncountableAn infantile personality resulting from lobotomy, once thought to be an interim stage toward maturation and recovery from the original condition that lobotomy had been used to treat.

Origin

Coined by Walter Jackson Freeman II.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

surgically induced childhood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surgically%20induced%20childhood

MLA

“surgically induced childhood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surgically%20induced%20childhood. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surgically induced childhood,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surgically%20induced%20childhood.

Source: surgically induced childhood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.