Resembling a child or that which is proper to childhood; becoming to or characteristic of a child; hence, submissive, dutiful, trustful, artless, inexperienced, etc.
Synonyms Childlike, Childish, Infantile, Infantine. Childlike and childish express that which is characteristic of a child, the former applying to that which is worthy of approbation, or at least does not merit disapproval, and the latter usually to that which is not: as, a childlike freedom from guile; a childish petulance. To express that which belongs to the period of childhood, without qualifying it as good or bad, child or childhood is often used in composition: as, child-toil, childhood-days. Infantile and infantine are applied to the first stages of childhood; no clear distinction between them has yet been established. See youthful.