childhoodnoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/us/ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/B1 the time when someone is a child:
She had an unhappy childhood.
Childhood is not always a happy time.
Compare
boyhood
girlhood
More examples
- Miller's fascination with medieval art dates from her childhood.
- "I'd like to ask you some questions about your childhood, if I may." "Fire away! ".
- For Proust, the taste of a madeleine brought childhood memories flooding back .
- Adults often look back on their childhood as a golden age.
- Most phobias are grounded in childhood experiences.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Stages of life
- adolescence
- adulthood
- arrive
- autumn
- autumn years idiom
- babyhood
- decline
- girlhood
- glory days
- golden age
- heyday
- in my day idiom
- middlescence
- midlife
- midlife crisis
- old age
- prime
- twilight
- twilight years idiom
- youth
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Children & babies