insipience

American

[in-sip-ee-uhns] / ɪnˈsɪp i əns /

noun

Archaic.

lack of wisdom; foolishness.

insipience British

/ ɪnˈsɪpɪəns /

noun

archaic lack of wisdom

"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

Other Word Forms

insipient adjective
insipiently adverb

Etymology

Origin of insipience

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin insipientia “foolishness,” equivalent to insipient- stem of insipiēns “foolish” ( in- in- ³ + -sipient-, combining form of sapient- sapient ) + -ia; -ence

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.

Insipience, in-sip′i-ens, adj. lack of wisdom.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

Their anfractuousness, their insipience, and their turpitude, are no longer amphibological.

From Project Gutenberg

He had exhausted his powers of characteristic discrimination in the heads of the apostles; and in his attempt to give meekness to the countenance of Jesus, he sank into insipience.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023