insipid
Americanadjective
-
without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid.
an insipid personality.
- Synonyms:
- uninteresting, dull, flat
-
without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland.
a rather insipid soup.
- Synonyms:
- bland, tasteless, uninteresting, dull, flat
adjective
-
lacking spirit; boring
-
lacking taste; unpalatable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of insipid
1610–20; < Latin insipidus, equivalent to in- in- 3 + -sipidus, combining form of sapidus sapid
Explanation
Something insipid is lacking in flavor or interest. You'll probably find the generic poems inside of greeting cards insipid. Insipid comes from the Latin insipidus, the opposite of sapidus which means flavorful. Because spices and salts are left out, hospital food is usually considered insipid. The most common use of the word is in a metaphorical sense for dull or flat. You might think that your goody-two-shoes cousin is the most insipid girl you've ever met.
Vocabulary lists containing insipid
Grade 10, List 4
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Negatives with "in"
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"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Insipid milk, and lead-coloured butter, from equisetum fluviatile.
From North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 by Bache, Franklin
Briefly, 'tis an Insipid Bawling piece of Foolery, from One end to the Other.
From Citt and Bumpkin (1680) by L'Estrange, Sir Roger
Insipid, in-sip′id, adj. tasteless: wanting spirit or animation: dull.—adv.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
At one table sits Mr. Insipid, foppling and fluttering, spinning his whirligig, or playing with his fingers, as gayly and wittily as any Frenchified coxcomb brandishes his cane or rattles his snuff-box.
From Homes of American Statesmen With Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches by Various
Insipid, therefore, as these postcards are in themselves, their effect here, on the battlefields, in the presence of our dead and wounded, is only calculated to cause disgust.
From Leaves in the Wind by Gardiner, A. G. (Alfred George)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
