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definitions

insipid

[in-sip-id]
See more synonyms for insipid on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality.
  2. without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland: a rather insipid soup.

Origin of insipid

1610–20; < Latin insipidus, equivalent to in- in-3 + -sipidus, combining form of sapidus sapid
Related formsin·si·pid·i·ty, in·sip·id·ness, nounin·sip·id·ly, adverb
Can be confusedincipient insipid insipient

Synonyms for insipid

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1, 2. flat, dull, uninteresting. 2. tasteless, bland.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for insipidity

drabness, dreariness, weariness, flatness, dryness, sameness, insipidness, familiarity, routine, vapidity, sterility, tedium, mildness, gentility, blandness, stodginess, tediousness, slowness, boredom, staleness

Examples from the Web for insipidity

Historical Examples of insipidity

  • She is divinely innocent, but roguishness saves her from insipidity.

    A Cathedral Courtship

    Kate Douglas Wiggin

  • The insipidity and yet the noise; the nothingness and yet the self-importance of all these people!

  • She says she was moved to the remark by the insipidity of the dish.

  • Mr. Read's fondness was the saccharine that qualified the insipidity of his wife's apathy.

    Alone

    Marion Harland

  • Nor must this be mistaken for insipidity or weakness of design.

British Dictionary definitions for insipidity

insipid

adjective
  1. lacking spirit; boring
  2. 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 insipidity
n.

c.1600, from insipid + -ity.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper