What's the difference between childish and puerility?

Childish


Definition:

  • (a.) Of, pertaining to, befitting, or resembling, a child.
  • (a.) Puerile; trifling; weak.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Fundamental differences between childish and schizophrenic ways of interpreting the world will be presented, showing the specificity of cognitive representation in schizophrenic thinking.
  • (2) The childish vulnerability she brings out in Sara balances out the visual bleakness of the film.
  • (3) [De Boer-Buquicchio] meant sexualised depictions of childish looking characters in manga and anime.
  • (4) "Hopefully, the lesson is to stop this foolish childishness," McCain said Thursday on CNN.
  • (5) If that sounded childish, Waugh's writing was valued by good judges.
  • (6) Against my will I had to keep watching those two black companions who persistently marked out our movements ahead of us, like walking silhouettes, and it gave me – our feelings are sometimes so childish – a certain reassurance to see that my shadow was longer, slimmer, I almost said "better-looking", than the short, stout shadow of my companion.
  • (7) A letter in which Albert Einstein branded religious beliefs as "childish superstitions" and the "product of human weaknesses" has been sold at auction in London for £170,000 to a private collector, smashing the world record for a letter by the great scientist.
  • (8) It was fairly childish, but it made me laugh.” Attenborough also talks about the dangers of climate change ahead of a new documentary to be shown over the festive period, 60 years after he first scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef in 1957.
  • (9) And it's important to understand the difference between being childlike and being childish.
  • (10) "Or like a small dog barking — it's so childish."
  • (11) (Though my childish understanding, informed by the culture I lived in, led me to believe that "cousin" was the operative problem there.)
  • (12) Mollie Whitworth North Walsham, Norfolk • What an impressive change the House of Lords debate on tax credit regulations made to the usual childish Punch and Judy politics of the other house.
  • (13) Once in charge, they believe they are done with such childish things, and can’t conceive of circumstances in which they will be judged – especially when convinced of their own rectitude.
  • (14) It is a mark of a life unlived, of a childish world view retained.
  • (15) This campaign is nothing but a self-interested and cynical ploy by the newspaper, a childish way of hitting back at the growing chorus of anti-Page 3 voices .
  • (16) What sense would there have been sealing up the Da Vinci, unless you get into childish Dan Brown logic?"
  • (17) The sale will be watched carefully because a letter in which he branded religious beliefs as "childish superstitions" and the "product of human weaknesses" that went on sale in May smashed the record for an Einstein letter by fetching £170,000.
  • (18) This was “childish back and forth”, charged New Jersey governor Chris Christie .
  • (19) It's a rare interlude of childish exuberance for girls whose young lives are dominated by the twice daily walk to the well and home, carrying heavy water cans, and other domestic chores.
  • (20) Those who don't suffer from them find them mystifying; childish, even.

Puerility


Definition:

  • (n.) The quality of being puerile; childishness; puerileness.
  • (n.) That which is puerile or childish; especially, an expression which is flat, insipid, or silly.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Dismissing the Socialists' censure motion threat as "puerile", Rajoy said: "I came [to parliament] to halt the erosion of Spain's image."
  • (2) I find them puerile and mildly offensive, but I'm not precious and accept that in predominantly male work environments, they are going to go on.
  • (3) The positive case for remaining in the EU will also be made by the Scottish National party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Alex Salmond , on Monday, when he will condemn the warnings about the risks of Brexit as, “at best puerile and at worst outlandish scaremongering”.
  • (4) Many tweeters noted the trend whereby (according to Simon Guerrero) "Channel 4 use offensive programme names but say, 'Well *they* are OK with it...'" In the Telegraph , meanwhile, the film critic Scott Jordan Harris, who is disabled, argued that "making a show just to say that disabled people should be allowed to be funny is ridiculously outdated … All [I'm Spazticus] proves is that we disabled people can be just as a mean-spirited, puerile and unfunny as the able-bodied."
  • (5) It is six years, after all, since 2009, the year in which the comedian’s blossoming career and reputation took an abrupt and savage hit, thanks to his unloved eponymous sketch show with Gavin & Stacey co-star Mathew Horne (“ puerile and excruciating ”, according to the New Statesman), a critically mauled movie, Lesbian Vampire Killers (“a witless mess”, said the Telegraph), and a calamitous performance hosting the Brit awards with Horne, which even Corden has acknowledged was “shit, because of ego”.
  • (6) When the circumstances and judgments change, it is best to admit to it and change as well.” In his first Commons confrontation with Osborne as shadow chancellor, McDonnell called the charter “a puerile political trap”.
  • (7) But Moran is far more than a puerile obsession with large underwear.
  • (8) Calling all that dangerous socialism may not resonate with most voters, so how, beyond puerile abuse, do the Tories oppose it without looking like defenders of vested interests?
  • (9) Elsewhere, Twisted Loaf are operating in comparably dark if far less puerile territory.
  • (10) The Republican convention has, thus far, been a puerile, empty spectacle featuring washed-up actors, reality TV stars, and belligerent, shameless politicians.
  • (11) But having kids reconnects you to comedy's more puerile end.
  • (12) (I've observed this on previous occasions and wonder if something puerile, something mockingly unpleasant, is written on the agency's system next to my name – the bearer of this passport has a small cock?)
  • (13) Some viewers said the commentators were "puerile and hyperactive".
  • (14) Most offensive, however, was the lameness of the entire endeavour, which would not only fail to inspire even the most puerile of would-be voters, but failed to give any reason for participating in the democratic process more sophisticated than "it might affect the amount of cinnamon in your Danish pastry" and "because you might get twatted".
  • (15) The former attorney general Dominic Grieve, who was presumably sacked in the summer reshuffle so that these plans could go ahead, is right to describe them as “almost puerile”.
  • (16) In 1984, he indulged in a riot of puerile name-calling.
  • (17) Sadowitz's impotent fury, Silverman's preppy naivety, Capurro's puerility – all of these comics reduce their status vis-a-vis the audience and ensure that the jokes bounce back on them.
  • (18) Female or male pubic hair, meager or normal axillary hair, sparse facial hair, and puerile penile type are characteristic of asthenozoospermia.
  • (19) Cheap but oddly charming for all its puerile sexism, Purple Rain was the pop sensation of the year, its soundtrack album shifting over 18 million copies and keeping 'When Doves Cry' at number one for six weeks.
  • (20) Effectively, what we are doing is turning Strasbourg into an advisory body.” Dominic Grieve , the former attorney general who was removed at the last reshuffle, told the Guardian the proposals were “almost puerile”.

Words possibly related to "puerility"