insipid
Americanadjective
-
without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid.
an insipid personality.
- Synonyms:
- uninteresting, dull, flat
-
without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland.
a rather insipid soup.
- Synonyms:
- bland, tasteless, uninteresting, dull, flat
adjective
-
lacking spirit; boring
-
lacking taste; unpalatable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insipid
1610–20; < Latin insipidus, equivalent to in- in- 3 + -sipidus, combining form of sapidus sapid
Explanation
Something insipid is lacking in flavor or interest. You'll probably find the generic poems inside of greeting cards insipid. Insipid comes from the Latin insipidus, the opposite of sapidus which means flavorful. Because spices and salts are left out, hospital food is usually considered insipid. The most common use of the word is in a metaphorical sense for dull or flat. You might think that your goody-two-shoes cousin is the most insipid girl you've ever met.
Vocabulary lists containing insipid
Grade 10, List 4
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Negatives with "in"
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"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
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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.
At one table sits Mr. Insipid, foppling and fluttering, spinning his whirligig, or playing with his fingers, as gayly and wittily as any Frenchified coxcomb brandishes his cane or rattles his snuff-box.
From Homes of American Statesmen With Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches by Various
Insipid milk, and lead-coloured butter, from equisetum fluviatile.
From North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 by Bache, Franklin
Away, too fearful reason, haste, be gone, Those frozen poets, whom thy phantoms guide, Languish, and often feebly slide, Down to the lowest ebb of wretchless song, Insipid notes, and lifeless numbers sing.
From Ebrietatis Encomium or, the Praise of Drunkenness by Samber, Robert
Home she went in a raptured daze, Looked in a mirror with startled gaze, Didn't seem to be pleased at all; Savagely muttered: "Insipid Doll!"
From Ballads of a Bohemian by Service, Robert W. (Robert William)
Insipid, therefore, as these postcards are in themselves, their effect here, on the battlefields, in the presence of our dead and wounded, is only calculated to cause disgust.
From Leaves in the Wind by Gardiner, A. G. (Alfred George)
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.
