asinine

American  

[as-uh-nahyn] / ˈæs əˌnaɪn /

adjective

1. foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid.

   It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements.

2. of or like an ass.

   asinine obstinacy;

   asinine features.

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asinine British  

/ ˌæsɪˈnɪnɪtɪ, ˈæsɪˌnaɪn /

adjective

1. obstinate or stupid

2. resembling an ass

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Usage

What are other ways to say asinine? The adjective asinine describes things that are foolish or unintelligent, as in asinine remarks. Do you know when to use asinine, fatuous, silly, inane, stupid, and foolish? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Other Word Forms

• asininely adverb
• asininity noun

Etymology

Origin of asinine

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin asinīnus, equivalent to asin(us) ass ¹ + -īnus -ine ¹

Example Sentences

As with much of the asinine ponderings coming from the Silicon Valley billionaire class, there’s a pseudo-intellectual rationale to prop up this nonsense.

From Salon

As if to punctuate his asinine decision, Marin makes a braying donkey noise.

From Los Angeles Times

The story struck the FBI as asinine — agents just did not act that way — but could it be disproved?

From Los Angeles Times

“Playing a national championship on a Monday night on January 20 is one of the most asinine things I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

I smiled politely; I found the remark asinine; I resolved to work it into conversation as soon as possible.

From New York Times