Meaning & use
designer baby
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A baby whose genes were chosen or changed before birth, using medical technology, to have particular qualities.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a designer baby' or 'designer babies' for more than one.
Patterns
- a designer baby
- create/design a designer baby
- designer babies
The newspaper debate asked whether parents should be allowed to create a designer baby.
Some clinics deny that they offer designer babies, saying they only screen embryos for serious diseases.
Critics argue that designer babies would deepen social inequality.
nouncountabledisapprovingfigurative
Used disapprovingly for any child whose appearance or abilities seem carefully planned or engineered by parents.
Grammar: Often used figuratively and critically about pushy parenting rather than real genetic science.
Patterns
- call someone a designer baby
- a so-called designer baby
The magazine called the child a designer baby because both parents had picked every activity in her life.
He joked that his son, enrolled in five lessons a week, was a designer baby.
Word forms
| plural | designer babies |
|---|
Common combinations
- design a designer baby
- Scientists say it is still illegal to design a designer baby in most countries.
- create a designer baby
- The film imagines a world where rich couples create a designer baby.
- so-called designer baby
- The so-called designer baby was really just conceived with standard fertility treatment.
- designer baby debate
- The designer baby debate raises hard questions about ethics and fairness.
- ban designer babies
- Several countries have moved to ban designer babies outright.
Synonyms and how they differ
- genetically engineered child
- More technical and neutral; it describes the science, while 'designer baby' often carries criticism.
- test-tube baby
- Refers only to conception outside the body (IVF) and says nothing about choosing genes, so it is not a true synonym.
Word family
Commonly confused: designer baby or test-tube baby?
designer baby vs test-tube baby
A test-tube baby is simply conceived by IVF; a designer baby is also selected or altered for certain traits, which is the controversial part.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'designer baby' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Designer baby' means a baby whose genes are chosen or altered, so a news-style warning fits. The other options treat it like a product, a piece of clothing, or a parcel, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “designer baby”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.