asinine

[as-uh-nahyn]

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.

asinine

/ ˌæsɪˈnɪnɪtɪ, ˈæsɪˌnaɪn /

adjective

1. obstinate or stupid

2. resembling an ass

Other Word Forms

• asininely adverb
• asininity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of asinine¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of asinine¹

C16: from Latin asinīnus, from asinus _ass 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.

Read more on Salon

A prime example is Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s asinine opinion that immigrants who are detained by masked men demanding proof of citizenship is only a “brief” inconvenience.

Read more on Salon

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

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He never quite gets around to addressing the grief that people might feel if a family member dies to prove some asinine theological point; he considers that to be "disastrous sentimentalism."

Read more on Salon

When To Use

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.