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
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of puerile
Trump is, always and forever, a puerile bully, stuck perpetually on the fifth-grade playground.
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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
As legal weed proliferates across the country, many storefronts have adopted a sterile, corporate aesthetic, while others lean into puerile graphics of, say, red-eyed Rick and Morty smoking blunts.
—Ezra Marcus, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for puerile 
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
As legal weed proliferates across the country, many storefronts have adopted a sterile, corporate aesthetic, while others lean into puerile graphics of, say, red-eyed Rick and Morty smoking blunts.
—Ezra Marcus, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for puerile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puerile
Adjective
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Instead, too many people are willing to write off his childish, mean-spirited antics by saying, well, Trump's just being Trump.ABC News, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2024
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With each day, the boy’s instinctive interest in natural history transcended his childish thirst for adventure.Peter Zablocki, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Some growers also pinch plants back in September to create an even crown and remove immature stem segments.Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 26 Oct. 2024
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Harris 2024 Polls: Harris Leads By 1 Point In Two Latest Surveys Unfortunately, these metrics do not work well for an immature, emerging business.Andrew Binns, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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This story of a man (Hanks) who decides to kill himself by throwing himself into a volcano before being interrupted by a series of increasingly odd events has its own goofy rhythm that Hanks steadies and smooths out, though maybe a little too much.Tim Grierson, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2024
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Drew Barrymore and the crew from The Talk also opted for goofy than spooky, with the Scream alum dressing up as the Queen of Halloween as The Talk hosts paid homage to some pop culture icons.Stephanie Sengwe, People.com, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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In a more recent study, researchers gathered data from nearly 7,000 adolescent school children in Ontario, Canada.Carina Woudenberg, Discover Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024
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Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against social media giant TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said Monday.Reuters, CNN, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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But while the 118 is able to save both Celeste and her mother-in-law’s final resting place, a smug Trent trips and drops the vase, an appropriate punchline to a very silly cold open.Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2024
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Read more Today's talkers Take a break from the election with these silly, happy shows.Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The company continues to focus on advancing SLK in Phase 3 clinical trials for hidradenitis suppurativa and psoriatic arthritis, with additional trials planned for juvenile HS, palmoplantar pustulosis, and axial spondyloarthritis.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 7 Nov. 2024
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The stalks on the juvenile Arthropleura resemble those of a crab, which could point to the creature having an amphibious youth before becoming terrestrial in adulthood.Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Ernst, who lives in Middleton, Wis., is the author of 20 historical novels and mysteries for young readers from American Girl, 11 books in the Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites mysteries, and nonfiction history and poetry.Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 10 Nov. 2024
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And if there was damage on younger roofs, insurers were willing to accept a repair instead of a full replacement, Metcalf said.Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, 10 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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After a full year of fighting, efforts to restore peace have proven futile so far, and mitigating the conflict's worst impacts continues to be a daily struggle.Shannon K. Kingston, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2024
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Defending himself, Musk said it was meant merely to highlight how futile such an endeavor would be.Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near puerile
Cite this Entry
“Puerile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puerile. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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