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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
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Recent Examples of puerile
The reflexive response to the sight of André Onana standing, yet again, with his head bowed and his shoulders slumped after Manchester United’s gloriously puerile draw with Galatasaray on Wednesday is sympathy.
—
Rory Smith, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2023
Trump is, always and forever, a puerile bully, stuck perpetually on the fifth-grade playground.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2024
The inexplicable twists are interspersed with puerile action scenes.
—Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2024
Hoping to usurp him from the throne, Kuzco's advisor, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), cooks up a plot to poison the puerile figurehead.
—Devin Nealy, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023
See All Example Sentences for puerile
Rory Smith, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2023
Trump is, always and forever, a puerile bully, stuck perpetually on the fifth-grade playground.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2024
The inexplicable twists are interspersed with puerile action scenes.
—Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2024
Hoping to usurp him from the throne, Kuzco's advisor, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), cooks up a plot to poison the puerile figurehead.
—Devin Nealy, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023
See All Example Sentences for puerile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puerile
Adjective
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That was a childish goal of the sort that had led her to challenge deëxtinction for so many years.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
-
Saying that people are childish and should show more journalistic integrity in a piece like this is missing the point.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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He’s been there; Harper was emotional — at times, immature — as a younger player.—
Matt Gelb,
The Athletic,
25 Mar. 2025
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From its opening scenes, Severance has presented the procedure the show is named for as a kind of birth, the spawning of a new, immature being.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Oh boy, wacky antics, including vomiting and other goofy altercations!—
Andy Hoglund,
EW.com,
30 Mar. 2025
-
Monty tends to be very energetic and goofy, while Sam is far more chilled out.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
After reaming her besties out for having not changed at all since their teen years, Laurie reverts back to her adolescent self.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
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Hope, an adolescent red wolf from one of the cloned litters produced by Colossal.—
Emily Mullin,
Wired News,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This strategy worked for him for about 10 years—and then began to bore him silly.—
Art Spiegelman,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2025
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Believing in any conspiracy theory, even one that seems as inoffensive or silly as the flat Earth theory, can set a person up to fall into larger conspiracy theories, Dashtgard says, like the idea that feminism is a global conspiracy meant to drag men down.—
Fortesa Latifi,
Rolling Stone,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Adult males, called boars, are emerging from their dens this month, with females and juvenile bears expected to follow in April and early May.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
28 Mar. 2025
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Paulo needed physical therapy to recover from several surgeries to shorten her left leg to the length of her right leg — the difference a consequence of juvenile arthritis.—
Jordan Rau,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Related Stories As Dickens goes over each of Jesus’ miracles and other pivotal moments ahead of his gruesome death, young Walter walks into the biblical passages as an unseen figure watching from the sidelines and becoming enraptured by the tall tales.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2025
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About midway through, his character, searching for a trafficked young woman, poses as a drug dealer looking to score a connection with a local kingpin holding court in the backroom of a biker bar.—
Donald Liebenson,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Impeachment of judges, however, is widely seen as a futile endeavor on Capitol Hill.—
Tara Suter,
The Hill,
3 Apr. 2025
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The confrontation ends in an electric if futile horse chase.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Puerile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puerile. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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