unchildly

Adjective

unchildly (comparative more unchildly, superlative most unchildly)

1. Not childly.
   • For the rest recourse must be had to what does not belong to human childhood: his brow must be made the seat of unchildly power and wisdom; he must wear the glance of prescience and the gesture of authority, even if he has not to sit on his mother’s knee as on a throne, and hold out his fingers in...1871, Sidney Colvin, “Children in Italian and English Design”, in Philip Gilbert Hamerton, editor, The Portfolio: An Artistic Periodical, London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, […], page 123
   • Denis, the narrator in Le Pauvre Christ de Bomba (The Poor Christ of Bomba), Mongo Beti’s second novel and the first to appear under his now renowned pen-name, would certainly be considered to be a child even though the novelist indicates that he is already almost fifteen by the time the story...1998, E. P. Abanime, “Childhood à la Camara Laye & Childhood à la Mongo Beti”, in Childhood in African Literature, Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 82