insipid

[ in-sip-id ]

/ ɪnˈsɪp ɪd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR insipid ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality.

without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland: a rather insipid soup.

Nearby words

Origin of insipid

1610–20; < Latin insipidus, equivalent to in- in-³ + -sipidus, combining form of sapidus sapid

SYNONYMS FOR insipid

1, 2. flat, dull, uninteresting. 2. tasteless, bland.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR insipid ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsin·si·pid·i·ty, in·sip·id·ness, nounin·sip·id·ly, adverb

Can be confusedincipient insipid insipient

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for insipid

When I saw it listed on the contents page, I thought, “Why would he write about a song that insipid?”
Greil Marcus Talks About Trying to Unlock Rock and Roll in 10 Songs|Allen Barra|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This time, long-suffering conservatives endured nothing embarrassing or bizarre, insipid, or outlandish.
A Winning Final Four at the GOP Debate in Charleston|Michael Medved|January 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Other foods that came canned, including more limp, insipid vegetables, overly syrupy fruits, and sloppy stews were equally gross.
The Weirdest Food Trend Ever|Robert Rosenthal|July 15, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The insipid GOP chairman, Michael Steele, blamed Scozzafava for endorsing the Democratic candidate, Bill Owen.
Bachmann's Angry Mob|John Batchelor|November 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST

Dispense with all the insipid government meddling and let the market decide what happens to Wall Street from this point forward.
Let Wall Street Fail|William D. Cohan|February 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Love is ridiculous or insipid in nearly all his other works.
Initiation into Literature|Emile Faguet
Life later had made her rational, altogether too rational and insipid.
The Complete Opera Book|Gustav Kobb
Panthea is innocent, but insipid; Mardonius a good specimen of what Fletcher loves to exhibit, the plain honest courtier.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 2|Henry Hallam
The return, like the leave-taking, produces an anticipated sadness, which gives one a proof of the insipid life we lead.
Over Strand and Field|Gustave Flaubert
I'm never up to his young girls—he is so very fond of the age of 'Nell,' when they are most insipid.
Dickens and His Illustrators|Frederic G. Kitton

British Dictionary definitions for insipid

insipid

/ (ɪnˈsɪpɪd) /

adjective

lacking spirit; boring

lacking taste; unpalatable

Derived Formsinsipidity or insipidness, nouninsipidly, adverb

Word Origin for insipid

C17: from Latin insipidus, from in- 1 + sapidus full of flavour, sapid

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for insipid

insipid

adj.

1610s, "without taste or perceptible flavor," from French insipide (16c.), from Late Latin inspidus "tasteless," from Latin in- "not" (see in- (1)) + sapidus "tasty," from sapere "have a taste" (also "be wise;" see sapient). Figurative meaning "uninteresting, dull" first recorded 1640s, but it was also a secondary sense in Medieval Latin.

In ye coach ... went Mrs. Barlow, the King's mistress and mother to ye Duke of Monmouth, a browne, beautifull, bold, but insipid creature. [John Evelyn, diary, Aug. 18, 1649]

Related: Insipidly.

insipid

adjective

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Origin of insipid

Examples from the Web for insipid

insipid

adjective

Word Origin for insipid

insipid