Synonyms of puerile

puerile

adjective

ˈpyu̇(-ə)r-əl 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• childish
• immature
• adolescent
• juvenile
• infantile
• jejune
• babyish
• kiddish
• girlish
• simple
• boyish
• childlike
• unsophisticated
• simplistic
• innocent
• brattish
• naive
• bratty
• girlie

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mature
• adult
• sophisticated
• grown-up
• worldly
• smart
• knowing
• experienced
• cosmopolitan
• unchildlike
• worldly-wise

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• immature
• adolescent
• inexperienced
• juvenile
• young
• callow
• childish
• unfledged
• unripe
• infantile
• unformed
• green
• youthful
• unripened
• raw
• wet behind the ears
• naive
• babyish
• girlish
• boyish
• innocent
• infantine
• unsophisticated
• ingenuous
• youngish
• infantilized
• kiddish
• maidenly
• virginal
• untried
• untrained
• unknowing
• unseasoned
• juvenescent
• tender

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mature
• adult
• ripe
• experienced
• advanced
• precocious
• grown-up
• sophisticated
• worldly
• knowing
• savvy
• worldly-wise

3

as in goofy

lacking in seriousness or maturity

the kind of puerile jokes that teenage moviegoers apparently love

Synonyms & Similar Words

• goofy
• silly
• futile
• giddy
• frivolous
• playful
• ditzy
• foolish
• scatterbrained
• harebrained
• yeasty
• frothy
• flighty
• inane
• scatty
• light-minded
• featherbrained
• dizzy
• thoughtless
• fatuous
• nonsensical
• shallow
• happy
• birdbrained
• superficial
• witless
• crazy
• flippant
• light-headed
• daffy
• daft
• exuberant
• lighthearted
• giggly
• sappy
• fluttery
• light
• fruity

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• serious
• earnest
• sober
• melancholy
• thoughtful
• serious-minded
• somber
• grave
• unfrivolous
• solemn
• severe
• heavy
• dignified
• staid
• sedate
• no-nonsense

Example Sentences

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

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