Infantilize

//ɪnˈfæn.tɪ.laɪz// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To reduce (a person) to the state or status of an infant. transitive

    "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."

  2. 2
    To treat (a person) like a child. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
patronize

Example

More examples

"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."

Etymology

From infantile + -ize (“make into”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.