noun
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lack of intelligence or imagination; senselessness; silliness
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a senseless action, remark, etc
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archaic emptiness
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inanity
From the Latin word inānitās, dating back to 1595–1605. See inane, -ity
Explanation
Inanity is complete nonsense. You may be a huge fan of an action movie, but the inanity of its sequel means you're likely to skip the third and fourth installments. A lot of what passes for comedy on TV is really just inanities: foolish characters in ridiculous situations. And while one political figure makes meaningful speeches that truly inspire you, another tends to spout inanities. An earlier definition of inanity was "emptiness," from a Latin root meaning "empty or useless." During the 18th century, the word came to mean "empty of intelligence, or silly."
Vocabulary lists containing inanity
Alice Austen Lived Here
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Leeva at Last
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Graceling
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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.
See Examples For:
All this inanity takes place over the course of a handful of days, during which no one ever seems to change clothes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
Setting aside the inanity of accusing a Jewish senator—who lost family members in the Holocaust—of antisemitism, Vietor volunteered an analysis that would’ve been unimaginable on previous iterations of the podcast.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2025
What makes me grumpy these days is less the market than the hokum and inanity that would-be experts are using to calm investors right now.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 16, 2022
When, for example, Marie-Josephe and a ship captain frolic through Hameau de la Reine, the setting’s natural beauty allows for a momentary respite — until the scene ends, and we’re thrust back into storybook inanity.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2022
Although neophyte writers may repeat a simple sentence structure to the point of inanity, most writers go to the opposite extreme and vary their syntax capriciously.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
The saga that has ensued is a window into the inanities that today govern the $19 billion industry known as college sports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
They misquoted him to his face, misrepresented his work, and spouted cocksure inanities showing with every word that, scientifically speaking, they have no idea what they’re talking about.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024
Comedian Megan Stalter plays the office manager Isobel, and Lambert weaponizes Stalter’s preternatural ability to spew a steady stream of absurd workplace inanities.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
He narrates his reporting, mumbling inanities like “A Sabbath silence brooded over the mire.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2022
They were exchanging inanities about the size and terrors of New York, but my body knew that the conversation was about something far more threatening.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
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.
