adjective
Usage
What are other ways to say fatuous? The adjective fatuous describes people or things that are foolish or inane, especially in an unconscious, complacent manner. Do you know when to use fatuous, foolish, silly, inane, stupid, and asinine? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fatuous
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin fatuus “silly, foolish, idiotic”; see -ous
Explanation
Fatuous means lacking intelligence. When your mother outlaws calling your brother stupid, use fatuous instead. Fatuous derives from the Latin fatuus meaning "foolish." It sounds like it should have something to do with being fat, but it actually has no relation to size. Fatuus itself comes from a root that also gave us "debate" and this might be a good way to remember it. You want to debate someone who's fatuous, because they are unintelligent, silly and even a bit conceited, so they probably won't be very persuasive debaters. Just don't call them fatuous to their face. Even if they don't know what it means, it's just not nice!
Vocabulary lists containing fatuous
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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.
But at least they made an attempt, however fatuous, to persuade the American people and the country’s international allies that there was a reason for doing so.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2026
Visually epic, sonically relentless and otherwise fatuous, the film has a dramatic inertia occasionally punctuated by eruptions of utter catastrophe—a series of shocks that leaves you singed, shaken and not much better for it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
And regardless, it’s Black X now, not necessarily in the Malcolm sense but in the more fatuous identity crisis sense.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2024
The money he makes, running the farm with his unmarried niece, goes to support life in the city for his fatuous, gouty sort-of-ex-brother-in-law, an art professor who “knows nothing about art.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
Such bereavement, witnessed at close range, makes even the most eloquent apologia for high-risk activities ring fatuous and hollow.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
