moot

[ moot ]

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.

verb (used with object)

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

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

/ muːt /

adjective

1. subject or open to debate

   a moot point

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

Derived Forms

• ˈmooter, noun

Other Words From

• mooter noun
• mootness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of moot¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun mot(e) “meeting, assembly,” Old English gemōt; cognate with Old Norse mōt, Dutch gemoet “meeting”; meet ¹none

Word History and Origins

Origin of moot¹

Old English gemōt; compare Old Saxon mōt, Middle High German muoze meeting

Example Sentences

Plus, if Democrats win the Senate runoff races in Georgia, they’ll control all levers of government in Washington — and most, if not all, of these fights will become moot in two months.

From Washington Post

And, of course, they render moot the temptation to cheat, reducing the incidence of unethical behavior.

From Washington Post

Lawyers for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and other groups say the state settlement doesn’t moot their suit, and they urged a federal judge not to grant Bluestone’s request to throw out the case.

From ProPublica

The appellate court’s move made moot the companies’ promises to pack up and leave the state if forced to comply.

From Voice of San Diego

Equally the perennial question of, “Where should the product team sit” becomes moot, which could encourage more cross-team collaboration.

From Digiday

At the end of the day, those debates were basically moot because Maliki made it impossible.

From The Daily Beast

If the answer is “no,” the question of whether the tactics are successful becomes moot.

From The Daily Beast

But the positives are moot if people fail to recognize the problem of eWaste and to realize they can do their part to reduce it.

From The Daily Beast

The question of whether the story is fit for publication is now moot.

From The Daily Beast

If Gov. Dave Heineman wants the job, I suspect he'll win the primary in a landslide, making this post a moot point.

From The Daily Beast

After a long talk during which we fixed up a good many moot points, went on to see General d'Amade.

From Project Gutenberg

Besides drawing up the treaty of peace, the Congress of Paris settled various moot points in international law.

From Project Gutenberg

The only moot point seemed to be whether he intended to slay the whole mob or be selective and cut down only important members.

From Project Gutenberg

The effect of periods of depression, such as 1903 and 1908, upon the proportion of low-grade tonnage is a moot point.

From Project Gutenberg

If we relied only on the rude representations painted on the vases, the question might be a moot one.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• debatable
• problematic
• unresolved
• unsettled