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puerile

[ pyoo-er-il, -uh-rahyl, pyoor-il, -ahyl ]
/ ˈpyu ər ɪl, -əˌraɪl, ˈpyʊər ɪl, -aɪl /
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adjective

of or relating to a child or to childhood.
childishly foolish; immature or trivial: a puerile piece of writing.

RELATED WORDS

callow, infantile, babyish, foolish, green, immature, inane, inexperienced, irresponsible, jejune, juvenile, naive, petty, ridiculous, silly, trivial, weak, young, unfledged

Nearby words

  1. puducherry,
  2. puebla,
  3. pueblo,
  4. pueblos,
  5. puericulture,
  6. puerilism,
  7. puerility,
  8. puerpera,
  9. puerperal,
  10. puerperal eclampsia

Origin of puerile

1650–60; < Latin puerīlis boyish, equivalent to puer boy + -īlis -ile
Related formspu·er·ile·ly, adverbnon·pu·er·ile, adjectivenon·pu·er·ile·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for puerile

British Dictionary definitions for puerile

puerile

/ (ˈpjʊəraɪl) /

adjective

exhibiting silliness; immature; trivial
of or characteristic of a child
Derived Formspuerilely, adverbpuerility (pjʊəˈrɪlɪtɪ), noun

Word Origin for puerile

C17: from Latin puerīlis childish, from puer a boy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for puerile

puerile

adj.

1660s, "youthful, boyish," a back-formation from puerility, or else from French puéril (15c.), from Latin puerilis "boyish; childish," from puer "boy, child" (see puerility). Disparaging sense, "juvenile, immature," is from 1680s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper