infantile
/ˈɪnfəntaɪl/adjective
infantile is spelled I-N-F-A-N-T-I-L-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, infantile means “Pertaining to infants” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in infantile?
| Letters | 9: I-N-F-A-N-T-I-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,176th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is infantile?
Infantile appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce infantile?
- /ˈɪnfəntaɪl/
Infantile has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-infantile.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of infantile
- more infantile comparative
- most infantile superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does infantile mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to infants.
infantile paralysis
- 2
Childish; immature.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Infantile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does infantile come from?
Mid-15th century, "pertaining to infants," from Latin infantilis (“pertaining to an infant”), equivalent to infant + -ile, from īnfāns. Sense of "infant-like" is from 1772.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).