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
Explanation
Use the adjective jejune to describe something that is uninteresting or insignificant. Many people claim to find celebrity gossip jejune, but ask them about a recent movie star scandal and chances are they know all about it. Jejune can also describe something that’s immature or simplistic. All that actress could say about her latest movie was that it was “Super fun”? That’s a pretty jejune comment. Basically jejune means lacking substance. It originally comes from the Latin word jejunus, which means “fasting,” so when something is jejune, it’s figuratively empty — devoid of intellectual nourishment.
Vocabulary lists containing jejune
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 8
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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.
He is a mediocrity while the jejune young man running riot in the palace is a miraculous, world-changing prodigy.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
The jejune romantic comedy “Wedding Season” marries elements from a couple of recent entries to the genre: “Plus One” and “7 Days.”
From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022
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 17, 2019
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
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.
