moot

American  

[moot] / mut /

adjective

1. open to discussion or debate; debatable; doubtful.

   Whether that was the cause of their troubles is a moot point.

   Synonyms:

   unsettled, disputed, disputable

   Antonyms:

   indisputable

2. of little or no practical value, meaning, or relevance; purely academic.

   In practical terms, the issue of her application is moot because the deadline has passed.

3. Chiefly Law. not actual; theoretical; hypothetical.

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verb (used with object)

moots, present (3rd person singular) mooted, past participle, past mooting present participle

1. to present or introduce (any point, subject, project, etc.) for discussion.

   Synonyms:

   discuss, dispute, debate

   Antonyms:

   agree

2. to reduce or remove the practical significance of; make purely theoretical or academic.

3. Archaic. to argue (a case), especially in a mock court.

noun

moots plural

1. an assembly of the people in early England exercising political, administrative, and judicial powers.

2. an argument or discussion, especially of a hypothetical legal case.

3. Obsolete. a debate, argument, or discussion.

moot British  

/ muːt /

adjective

1. subject or open to debate

   a moot point

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verb

1. (tr) to suggest or bring up for debate

2. (intr) to plead or argue theoretical or hypothetical cases, as an academic exercise or as vocational training for law students

noun

1. a discussion or debate of a hypothetical case or point, held as an academic activity

2. (in Anglo-Saxon England) an assembly, mainly in a shire or hundred, dealing with local legal and administrative affairs

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mooter
  noun
• mootness
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• moots
  plural

Participles

• mooting
  present
• mooted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• moot
  simple
• moots
  simple
• have mooted
  perfect
• has mooted
  perfect
• am mooting
  progressive
• are mooting
  progressive
• is mooting
  progressive
• have been mooting
  perfect progressive
• has been mooting
  perfect progressive

Past

• mooted
  simple
• had mooted
  perfect
• was mooting
  progressive
• were mooting
  progressive
• had been mooting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will moot
  simple
• will have mooted
  perfect
• will be mooting
  progressive
• will have been mooting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of moot

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun mot(e) “meeting, assembly,” Old English gemōt; cognate with Old Norse mōt, Dutch gemoet “meeting”; see meet ¹

Explanation

When a point is moot, it's too trivial to think about. If your basketball team loses by 40 points, the bad call by the official in the first quarter is moot: it isn't important. Though moot can mean to debate endlessly without any clear decision or to think about something carefully, it most often describes ideas and arguments that don't really matter. If your plane is crashing, whether or not your socks match is a moot point. When someone accuses you of making a moot point, he's basically saying, "Come on! Let's talk about what's important." As with so many things, people don't always agree on what's moot and what's not.

Example Sentences

We know any such charges would be litigated to death, and by the time it finally came to trial, he might very well be dead, and the case would be moot.

From Salon • Jun. 28, 2026

The transfer would therefore moot the case against the previous prison and start the whole process over.

From Slate • Jun. 23, 2026

That suggests the March ruling was not moot.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

One of the festival’s big themes seems to be connection: that we’re all stuck on this rock together and, ultimately, the difference between human and android, man and woman, is moot.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

Within two weeks, the original intent of the engineer who walked away from her, whatever it might have been, was moot.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• debatable
• problematic
• unresolved
• unsettled