inane

American  

[ih-neyn] / ɪˈneɪn /

adjective

1. lacking sense, significance, or ideas; silly.

   inane questions.

   Synonyms:

   pointless, absurd

2. empty; void.

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noun

1. something that is empty or void, especially the void of infinite space.

inane British  

/ ɪˈneɪn /

adjective

1. senseless, unimaginative, or empty; unintelligent

   inane remarks

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Usage

What are other ways to say inane? Something inane lacks sense, significance, or ideas. Do you know when to use inane, fatuous, silly, foolish, stupid, and asinine? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Other Word Forms

• inanely adverb

Etymology

Origin of inane

First recorded in 1655–65, inane is from the Latin word inānis

Example Sentences

Students are already using large language models to answer questions about deeper things, and the responses range from the inane to the untrue.

From The Wall Street Journal

But these explosive yet inane occurrences have become commonplace.

From The Wall Street Journal

This was the rarest of offerings in today’s endlessly inane sports media ecosystem:

From The Wall Street Journal

After all, I am only in the store a few minutes a week and can readily suck it up and ignore the discombobulatingly inane strains of “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” blaring overhead.

From The Wall Street Journal

She’s surrounded by partners and associates whose magnificently inane names sound like they were pulled from an Aaron Spelling character generator.

From Salon