childlike

adjective

Definition of childlikenext
as in naive
resembling or suggesting a child; like that of a child a childlike honesty He had a childlike innocence that others found endearing.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of childlike The audience meets Carrie, meek and childlike, on her first day of school. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026 He was known for his sense of whimsy, childlike wonder, and a love of the natural world—many of his preferred designs were based on flora and fauna and yielded fantastical images like mermaids, butterflies, and much more. — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2026 Zoey The group’s youngest member, Zoey, is at the heart of it all and has a fun, childlike personality. — Sarah Scott, Parents, 24 Sep. 2026 Voiced by Tom Kenny, SpongeBob’s unerring positivity and childlike glee immediately captured our hearts and minds, so much so that the show has continued for more than 25 years. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for childlike
Recent Examples of Synonyms for childlike
  1. naive
  2. genuine
  3. simple
  4. true
  5. real
  6. natural
  7. unsophisticated
Adjective
  • Sutskever is portrayed as the idealistic, naive hero — the ingenious mind behind the lab’s entire existence who can’t stomach lying and is reluctant to accumulate any power.
    — Hayden Field, The Verge, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Rebecca and Verity, which stars Johnson, are also about a new, naïve lover entering the home of a bad man with a wife hidden in his house of horrors.
    — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of naive
Adjective
  • As such, the greatest obstacle to genuine transformation is getting stuck in the planning cycle.
    — Jeff DeGraff, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Notably, the new action comes about a month after UMG had sued DistroKid in September, claiming the company has helped empower bad actors to upload AI slop songs at mass scale, diluting the royalty pool for genuine artists.
    — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of genuine
Adjective
  • The best power pop is simple, direct, and memorable, in both words and sound.
    — Jeff Yerger, Pitchfork, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The lack of close coordination between these simple details undermines the structure’s coherence and intent.
    — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of simple
Adjective
  • An invite-only Rocket Variant replaces standard features with a single-seat configuration and perimeter thrusters for true flight, rendering it non-road-legal.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The counter-argument that these groups already get the same knowledge from Iran, which gets it from China, Russia, and North Korea, is largely true.
    — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of true
Adjective
  • While these tracks are endearing enough, Way Dynamic’s real magic sits at the juncture of folk and forlornness, when Young’s guitar is allowed to ramble and his regrets are sharp enough to bruise.
    — Linnie Greene, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026
  • These reactive oxygen species, or ROS, can do real damage to mitochondria, cells and organs.
    — Rowan Jacobsen, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of real
Adjective
  • Shooting stars become visible when particles of the ancient comet collide with our planet's atmosphere at 147,600 miles per hour (237,539 kilometers per hour), vaporizing in a spectacular display of natural fireworks.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • This part of South America often gets heavy rain during El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon in which warmer-than-usual waters in the Pacific Ocean scramble weather patterns around the world.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of natural
Adjective
  • What shocked him was how unregulated—and unsophisticated—the rental market seemed.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Five months later, the Taliban militia, which had no airpower and unsophisticated weaponry, seized control of Kabul in just ten days.
    — Robin Wright, New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of unsophisticated

Browse Nearby Words

childishness
childlike
children
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Cite this Entry

“Childlike.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/childlike. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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