adjective
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
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of inane
First recorded in 1655–65, inane is from the Latin word inānis
Explanation
If something is inane, it's silly or senseless. If you just want to space out, you won't mind the inane chatter on TV, as long as it's on. Inane comes from the Latin inanis, for empty, and you can think of it as empty-headed. We call something inane if it states the obvious, or is really silly in a way that seems unintelligent. If you give your boss a presentation in a bunny suit and sing a song about being happy, she might say, "Get out of here with your inane bunny act!" Other synonyms are stupid, vacuous, ridiculous, pointless.
Vocabulary lists containing inane
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The Catcher in the Rye
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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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.
Inane chat, vacuous stares, Bauhaus settings and Pucci puppets form a familiar narrative glaze.
From Time Magazine Archive
Inane music, like the opening chords of We Will Rock You, blares over the loudspeaker while the teams are playing.
From Time Magazine Archive
Inane attention was paid to Mr. Browning's rubber eggs, baby dolls, clay puppies, infantile endearments, trick spoons.
From Time Magazine Archive
Inane, empty, said of an anther which produces no pollen, &c.
From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa
At the Last Day they shall disappear ‘like clouds;’ the whole Earth shall go spinning, whirl itself off into wreck, and as dust and vapour vanish in the Inane.
From Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
