infantilize
verb
Did you know?
Infantilize is just a baby, linguistically speaking. It wasn’t until several decades into the 20th century that social scientists started using the term to discuss the ways in which treating humans as helpless can prolong or encourage their dependency on others. The adjective infantile, which gave birth to infantilize, is far more mature: it dates to the 17th century. (Infant dates to the 14th century and comes ultimately from a Latin word meaning “incapable of speech; young.”) Infantile sometimes literally means “relating to infants”—that is, to children in the first year of life—but it is also applied more broadly. If you chide someone for their infantile behavior, for example, you rebuke the person for acting immaturely or childishly; to chide someone for infantilizing behavior, on the other hand, is to rebuke them for acting as if others are not as mature or independent as they are.
Cite this Entry
“Infantilize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infantilize. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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