puerile
childish, immature (behaviour)
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
As citizens of London we should expect, and receive much, much better than this kind of PUERILE governance of our city.
(The London Free Press)
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The words that passed between us were few and PUERILE in regard of the situation.
(The Shadow Line, by Joseph Conrad)
(The London Free Press)
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The words that passed between us were few and PUERILE in regard of the situation.
(The Shadow Line, by Joseph Conrad)
Did you
know?
puerile
adjective
- childishly silly and immature
(Oxford Dictionary)
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Puerile has its roots in the Latin term "puerili," (boyish or childish) and "puer" (boy, child), by way of the French "pueril." Puerile was once simply a synonym for childish, without any derogatory implications. After all, children will be children. Depending on the context however, the modern sense can be interpreted as the harmless "for a child" or the more derisive "childish and immature."
If you tell your son that you plan on replacing his puerile furniture with something more appropriate for a teenager, that just means you want to get rid of his childhood bedroom furnishings. If he belches loudly in response to this comment, that's puerile - or immature - behaviour.
Or let's say you tell your colleague that the company needs a new strategy to address the puerile end of the market. That implies products or services for children. You write an e-mail to that effect. If his only response is to turn the print-out of your e-mail into a paper wad and hit you in the back of the head with it, that's puerile - or juvenile - behaviour.
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SYNONMYS
adolescent, callow, childish, infantile, juvenile, pubescent, sophomoric
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The behaviour at the office party was rather puerile don't you think?"
adjective
- childishly silly and immature
(Oxford Dictionary)
---
Puerile has its roots in the Latin term "puerili," (boyish or childish) and "puer" (boy, child), by way of the French "pueril." Puerile was once simply a synonym for childish, without any derogatory implications. After all, children will be children. Depending on the context however, the modern sense can be interpreted as the harmless "for a child" or the more derisive "childish and immature."
If you tell your son that you plan on replacing his puerile furniture with something more appropriate for a teenager, that just means you want to get rid of his childhood bedroom furnishings. If he belches loudly in response to this comment, that's puerile - or immature - behaviour.
Or let's say you tell your colleague that the company needs a new strategy to address the puerile end of the market. That implies products or services for children. You write an e-mail to that effect. If his only response is to turn the print-out of your e-mail into a paper wad and hit you in the back of the head with it, that's puerile - or juvenile - behaviour.
---
SYNONMYS
adolescent, callow, childish, infantile, juvenile, pubescent, sophomoric
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The behaviour at the office party was rather puerile don't you think?"
