# Juvenile v. Infantile v. Puerile **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2021, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620 "2021-11-19T08:54:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/1 "2021-11-19T08:54:33Z")
What is the difference, the real difference, between the words _juvenile_, _infantile_ and _puerile_? Yes, I know they all mean immature and silly. But individually, how do they differ in meaning, if any way, from each other? Also, in grade school and high school grammar class, they told us there is _connotation_ versus _denotation_. I guess that is my real question too. How would they differ, say, in a sentence from each other? And as I said, indeed, do they? Thank you in advance for your helpful and civil replies 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/2 "2021-11-19T11:45:47Z")
Well, etymologically, juvenile derives from the Latin word for youth, and puerile from the Latin word for boy, and infantile is self-explanatory. But I don’t think that there’s much to be gained by trying to fix a “real” meaning when they’re all used metaphorically and with disapproval. In my perception, “puerile” would be a bit more “loutish/laddish”, but there’s not a lot in it. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/3 "2021-11-19T12:32:40Z")
_Juvenile_ doesn’t necessarily mean silly, it can also be a formal or legalistic adjective for all things pertaining to youth, such as juvenile delinquency. My father used to be a judge dealing, among other things, with criminal case a involving minors, and while he would have been happy being described as a juvenile judge, I think he’d take offence at being called a silly or immature judge. Semantically, the age you’d call _juvenile_ is the teenage years, whereas _infantile_ and _puerile_ refer to younger years. So perhaps even in the meaning of “silliness”, _juvenile_ is more teenage-style humour than childish humour. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/4 "2021-11-19T12:44:26Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > and infantile is self-explanatory. Infant comes from pre-verbal / unable to speak may have some relevance to the OP. Though some languages, particularly french use enfant as a word for child, so equivalent of Juvenile and perhaps that’s where the expression comes from. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/5 "2021-11-19T12:56:10Z")
Can I offer some examples? If my coworker made a fart joke in a meeting, that would be juvenile. If my coworker started sobbing openly in a meeting because I called his idea impractical, that would be infantile. I think that puerile lies somewhere between, and has a connotation of contempt the others don’t. It feels like a stronger word to me. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/6 "2021-11-19T13:00:09Z")
After the kid grows up, he can be virile, then senile. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/7 "2021-11-19T13:01:39Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Also, in grade school and high school grammar class, they told us there is _connotation_ versus _denotation_ . I guess that is my real question too. How would they differ, say, in a sentence from each other? And as I said, indeed, do they? The way they were described to me in English class was that **denotation** was the ‘official’ definition of a word, whereas **connotation** was a less formally defined but more nuanced meaning that a word can take on over time. An example was given of the words ‘childish’ vs. ‘childlike’. The **denotation** of the two words makes them synonyms. But the **connotation** of ‘childish’ is negative-- immature and unserious; the **connotation** of ‘childlike’ is positive-- innocent and pure. > [@tofor](#): > > If my coworker made a fart joke in a meeting, that would be juvenile. > > If my coworker started sobbing openly in a meeting because I called his idea impractical, that would be infantile. I’ve worked with both those guys 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/8 "2021-11-19T13:41:46Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > puerile I wouldn’t use puerile to describe a person. I would use it to describe something they wrote or their behaviour. “That report in the Daily Mail is puerile rubbish.” “You will be in trouble if you don’t stop behaving in such a puerile and immature way.” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/9 "2021-11-19T16:55:09Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > If my coworker made a fart joke in a meeting, that would be juvenile. > > If my coworker started sobbing openly in a meeting because I called his idea impractical, that would be infantile. > > I think that puerile lies somewhere between, and has a connotation of contempt the others don’t. It feels like a stronger word to me. In that example, I think puerile would be actually farting in the meeting as a comment. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/10 "2021-11-19T21:57:02Z")
The one time I ever heard “puerile” in conversation was when someone called our college radio station to chew us out for broadcasting the “puerile nonsense” linked below. (I believe it was around a minute in.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gLLuWJEaasI/maxresdefault.jpg "P.D.Q. Bach - The Short-Tempered Clavier - IV. D major") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLLuWJEaasI) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/11 "2021-11-19T22:57:34Z")
People who think the fart joke is funny will sheepishly admit that it is juvenile. People who don’t think it’s funny will look down their noses, and call it puerile. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/12 "2021-11-20T03:39:07Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Also, in grade school and high school grammar class, they told us there is _connotation_ versus _denotation_ . This is an important distinction. > ### [connotation](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/connotation) > > When you’re talking about the implied subtext of words rather than their literal meaning, reach for the noun _connotation_ . A political boss might not want to be called “boss” because of the negative _connotations_ . [Continue reading…](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/connotation) > > Definition: > > ### [denotation](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/denotation) > > _Denotation_ means the literal meaning of a word or name. Although Paris might make you think of romance, its _denotation_ is simply “the city of an old tribe called the Parisii.” You’re asking about the connotations of the words, or a usage question. Usage questions don’t have factual answers, unfortunately; they’re always the topic of heated discussions. Since an infant is less advanced than an older youth, I’d consider calling someone infantile to be harsher than juvenile. [This site](https://www.essentialenglish.review/book/verbal-advantage-level-06/index/) ranks harshness from juvenile to puerile to infantile. (Click on puerile.) I’d disagree and put puerile on top. Why? Because it’s an obscure latinate word, so that I wouldn’t use it unless I were reaching for a sick burn. But I couldn’t come up with a good linguistic reason to justify that. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juvenile-v-infantile-v-puerile/954620/13 "2021-11-21T14:59:52Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > If my coworker made a fart joke in a meeting, that would be juvenile. > > If my coworker started sobbing openly in a meeting because I called his idea impractical, that would be infantile. If my coworker actually farted as the method calling an idea impractical during the meeting, that would be puerile.