harebrained
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of harebrained
Explanation
Something that's harebrained is reckless or foolish. Sometimes, harebrained ideas work out just fine — several people have survived trips over Niagara Falls in a barrel, for example. If you have what you think is a great idea, but someone else calls it a harebrained scheme, it means they think you'd be a fool to try it. For example, your harebrained plan to ride your bike on the highway is bound to get you in trouble. The 16th century harebrained came from the earlier harebrain, "giddy or reckless person," from the common impression of a rabbit or a hare as being nervous and skittish.
Vocabulary lists containing harebrained
Mississippi Trial, 1955
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Red Flags and Butterflies
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Henry IV, Part 1
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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.
The scheme seemed as harebrained as it was cruel, and Martinez offered little to lend clarity.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2025
Someone else compared the mere act of boarding a commercial flight to the harebrained, death-defying stunts featured on “Jackass.”
From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2024
Santos clearly has an appetite for harebrained petty scams, which is exactly what has done him in on the national level.
From Slate • Nov. 16, 2023
The worst that could happen is people like Musk have less money to invest in harebrained schemes like "ChatGPT, but more racist."
From Salon • Jul. 17, 2023
That discovery excited him much more than any of his other harebrained undertakings.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
