puerile

adjective

ˈpyu̇(-ə)r-əl How to pronounce puerile (audio)
Definition of puerilenext
1
as in childish
having or showing the annoying qualities (as silliness) associated with children told the teenagers that such puerile behavior would not be tolerated during the ceremony

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in immature
lacking in adult experience or maturity allowed the company to be taken over by a bunch of puerile whippersnappers fresh out of business school

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in goofy
lacking in seriousness or maturity the kind of puerile jokes that teenage moviegoers apparently love

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of puerile The latter’s taste for puerile subject matter and sing-song melodies plays into Swords2’s homage to early-’90s emo. — Jude Noel, Pitchfork, 10 Jan. 2026 The book, which has a decidedly feminist bent, becomes a surprise best-seller, and soon Penelope finds herself in Hollywood, surrounded by blowhard executives and puerile male screenwriters who want to adapt her work into a blockbuster. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2026 The Twits are so gross and puerile and nasty in the book. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2025 And with that puerile quarrel between stubborn warlords over the right to own and to rape a girl, Western literature begins. — Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023 See All Example Sentences for puerile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puerile
  1. childish
  2. immature
  3. goofy
  4. adolescent
  5. inexperienced
  6. silly
  7. juvenile
  8. young
Adjective
  • There is a playful feeling to many PATTARAPHAN pieces, but this is not childish work.
    — Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
  • And also settling a very childish dispute between the airport and the contractors.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of childish
Adjective
  • Tests revealed that Matias had neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer that develops from immature nerve cells, per the Cleveland Clinic.
    — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
  • There’s nothing wrong with holding on to childhood and being a little immature from time to time.
    — Loren Savini, Allure, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of immature
Adjective
  • So when Billie and Issa get an actual offer for drinks with two firefighters who come to the house, Billie puts on a goofy British accent à la Issa and turns them down, choosing a quiet night at home with her friend instead.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • That was therapeutic for these professional dancers who got to be silly and goofy, but confidently.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of goofy
Adjective
  • Fornari is vice chair of the division of child & adolescent psychiatry at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center and professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
    — Dr. Victor Fornari, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The children included three under the age of 2, a 7-year-old and two adolescent girls, UNICEF said in a statement welcoming the release.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of adolescent
Adjective
  • Edmonton is set to rely on some inexperienced players this season.
    — Janson Duench, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The Holbrook sisters are undersocialized and inexperienced with the world, and Herzog sees them as figures out of a fable, dreamers who talk incessantly about love and seem connected to the elemental and the ancient.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of inexperienced
Adjective
  • That was a valuable lesson as the previous season, silly errors and lapses in concentration led to the side conceding goals that hamstrung their title ambitions.
    — Art de Roché, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Seen as silly, shrunken, and impractical, it’s considered the full-sugar Coca-Cola of jackets—all empty calories, no nutritional value.
    — Irene Richardson, InStyle, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of silly
Adjective
  • Natascha Hedegaard, an in-house veterinary advisor for JoyFull Pet, said large and giant breeds have a longer juvenile stage than small breed dogs.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Located off Statesville Road north of uptown, Jail North was a juvenile detention center from 2020 to 2022 before staffing problems forced its closure.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of juvenile
Adjective
  • Die schöne Müllerin was conceived for a male voice and the protagonist is a young man, so Anderson would not have contemplated performing the complete cycle.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
  • In the meantime, the long-term monitoring approach adopted by the researchers could provide scientists with a powerful new way of investigating other young massive binary systems.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of young

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pudgy
puerile
puerility
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Cite this Entry

“Puerile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puerile. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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