Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A puerile character or condition; boyishness; childishness.
- noun The time of childhood; specifically, in civil law, the period of life from the age of seven years to that of fourteen.
- noun That which is puerile; what is characteristic of or done in boyhood; hence, a childish or silly act, thought, or expression.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality of being puerile; childishness; puerileness.
- noun That which is puerile or childish; especially, an expression which is flat, insipid, or silly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the state, quality, or condition of being
childish orpuerile - noun that which is puerile or childish; especially, an expression which is flat, insipid, or silly
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the state of a child between infancy and adolescence
- noun a property characteristic of a child
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Even in masses of what men have called his puerility there are often germs of immense worth, -- taking years, perhaps, to show life, but sure to be alive at last.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 51, January, 1862 Various
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They are in some respects notably tame and puerile, -- with a puerility which is not childish simplicity, but a lack of inventive fancy, and which exhibits itself in bald repetition.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 23, September, 1859 Various
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As it was, the introduction of such evidence was an insult to their intelligence, and she had sufficient faith in their manhood and perspicacity to know that such puerility would not sway them in the verdict they were to give.
CHAPTER 28 2010
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It was a sterile mockery, a wholly inadequate stretch into puerility.
Truffle Socks Cooper Renner 2011
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She was stung by his words into realization of the puerility of her act, and yet she felt that he had magnified it unduly and was consequently resentful.
Chapter 45 2010
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While tumidity desires to transcend the limits of the sublime, the defect which is termed puerility is the direct antithesis of elevation, for it is utterly low and mean and in real truth the most ignoble vice of style.
Archive 2010-03-01 Hal Duncan 2010
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So while America understandably reels from the screeching puerility that has gripped our capital, we got to get a grip.
Fernando Espuelas: Latinos Must Help Unify America - by Voting in 2012 Fernando Espuelas 2011
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It was a sterile mockery, a wholly inadequate stretch into puerility.
Truffle Socks Cooper Renner 2011
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So while America understandably reels from the screeching puerility that has gripped our capital, we got to get a grip.
Fernando Espuelas: Latinos Must Help Unify America - by Voting in 2012 Fernando Espuelas 2011
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No, to avoid the slur of puerility, those concerned must put away childish things including utterly banal "talent contests" that appeal to the lowest common denominator in the viewers and readers.
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