Meaning & use
infantilising
Last updated
“infantilising” is a form of “infantilize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noundisapprovingformal
Treating someone as if they were a child and could not decide for themselves.
Grammar: Comes before the noun it describes: 'an infantilising attitude'.
Patterns
- infantilising attitude
- infantilising treatment
- infantilising language
The staff complained about the manager's infantilising tone in meetings.
Critics called the new rules an infantilising attempt to control grown adults.
She disliked the infantilising way the forms explained the simplest tasks.
verbtransitivedisapprovingformal
The present participle of 'infantilize': making someone behave or feel like a child.
Grammar: Part of the verb phrase; takes an object, as in 'stop infantilising your staff'.
Patterns
- be infantilising someone
- stop infantilising someone
- infantilising a whole group
By answering every question for her, he was infantilising his daughter.
The ads are infantilising women by suggesting they cannot choose for themselves.
Word forms
| third person singular | infantilizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | infantilized |
| past participle | infantilized |
| -ing form | infantilizing |
| British -ing form | infantilising |
Common combinations
- infantilising attitude
- His infantilising attitude made the team feel they were back at school.
- deeply infantilising
- The article called the policy deeply infantilising.
- accused of infantilising
- The government was accused of infantilising the public.
- infantilising effect
- Constant supervision has an infantilising effect on workers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- patronizing
- Suggests talking down to someone; 'infantilising' is stronger and means treating them as a child.
- belittling
- Means making someone seem unimportant; 'infantilising' focuses on age and childishness.
Opposites
Word family
- infantilize verb
- To treat someone as a child.
- infantile adjective
- Childish or very immature.
- infant noun
- A baby or very young child.
Commonly confused: infantilising or infantile?
infantilising vs infantile
Describes someone who behaves childishly; 'infantilising' describes someone who makes another person feel like a child.
Practice
By doing everything for him, she was ______ her teenage son.
Choose one answer.
'Infantilising' is the verb form and fits after 'was'. 'Infantile' is an adjective, 'infant' is a noun, and 'infanticide' means the killing of a baby.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “infantilising”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.