Nearby Words

puerile

[pyoo-er-il, -uh-rahyl, pyoor-il, -ahyl] Origin

pu·er·ile

[pyoo-er-il, -uh-rahyl, pyoor-il, -ahyl]
adjective
1.
of or pertaining to a child or to childhood.
2.
childishly foolish; immature or trivial: a puerile piece of writing.

Origin:
1650–60; < Latin puerīlis boyish, equivalent to puer boy + -īlis -ile

pu·er·ile·ly, adverb
non·pu·er·ile, adjective
non·pu·er·ile·ly, adverb


1. youthful, juvenile. 2. juvenile, silly.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Puerile is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Collins
World English Dictionary
puerile (ˈpjʊəraɪl)
 
adj
1.  exhibiting silliness; immature; trivial
2.  of or characteristic of a child
 
[C17: from Latin puerīlis childish, from puer a boy]
 
'puerilely
 
adv
 
puerility
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

puerile
1660s, "youthful, boyish," from L. puerilis "childish," from puer "boy, child" (see puerility). Disparaging sense, "juvenile, immature," is from 1680s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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