jejune
Americanadjective
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without interest or significance; dull; insipid.
a jejune novel.
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juvenile; immature; childish.
jejune behavior.
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lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed.
jejune attempts to design a house.
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deficient or lacking in nutritive value.
a jejune diet.
adjective
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simple; naive; unsophisticated
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insipid; dull; dry
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lacking nourishment; insubstantial or barren
Other Word Forms
- jejunely adverb
- jejuneness noun
- jejunity noun
Etymology
Origin of jejune
First recorded in 1605–15, jejune is from the Latin word jējūnus empty, poor, mean
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.
For confirmation, take a gander at “Come Get Maggie,” a jejune musical by Diane Frolov and Susan Justin that is receiving its world premiere courtesy of Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2023
By the end of the novel, his paranoia from the park is almost jejune compared to what’s in store for him.
From Washington Post • May 25, 2021
“It’s a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that, especially one that, on its face, had a number of clear mistakes and in a somewhat jejune analysis,” Barr said.
From Fox News • May 18, 2019
McCaskill deftly filleted Josh Hawley, who has been in his job since 2016, by implicitly contrasting her years of experience with his jejune overconfidence.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 22, 2018
Ben “Pimple-face” Meecham often acts jejune when he forces his charming sister to tell him the meaning of words.’”
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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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.