1.
childish, infantile, immature
Characteristic of or appropriate for a young child; lacking sophistication or maturity.
そんな幼稚な言い訳は通らない。
Such a childish excuse won't work.
彼の考え方は幼稚だ。
His way of thinking is immature.
あんな幼稚な質問をするなんて恥ずかしい。
It's embarrassing to ask such a childish question.
2.
early childhood, infancy
Relating to the stage of early childhood development (neutral usage).
子供は幼稚園で遊んでいる。
The children are playing at kindergarten.
幼稚園 = kindergarten
幼稚園の入園申し込みが始まった。
Applications for kindergarten enrollment have started.
息子は来年から幼稚園に通う予定だ。
My son is scheduled to start kindergarten next year.
USAGE: 幼稚 has two main contexts:
1. Negative: describing immature or childish behavior in adults (pejorative)
2. Neutral: relating to early childhood education
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 幼稚な考え (childish thinking)
- 幼稚な行動 (immature behavior)
COMPOUND:
- 幼稚園 (kindergarten) - very common word using neutral sense
RELATED:
- 子供っぽい - childish (more colloquial)
- 未熟 - immature, inexperienced
- 大人げない - unbecoming of an adult