meaningless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of meaningless
Explanation
If something's meaningless, it has no real value, purpose, or significance. If someone repeatedly hurts your feelings and casually says they're sorry, you might feel like the apology is meaningless. Words in a book will be meaningless to you if they're written in a language you don't understand, and the small talk you engage in when you run into an acquaintance at the supermarket is often meaningless too. You can probably think of rules that don't have any good reason behind them, and these are also meaningless. When something is important to you, it has meaning — and when it's not, it's meaningless.
Vocabulary lists containing meaningless
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.
Meaningless choices were preceded by a readiness potential, just as in previous experiments.
From Scientific American • Jan. 16, 2023
Corcoran compiled a meticulous, 65-page chronology for the exhibition catalog to “Walter De Maria: Boxes for Meaningless Work,” newly opened at Houston’s Menil Collection, a labor of love for her friend and favorite artist.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2022
Meaningless in some ways, full of meaning in others, and all of it underscoring the obvious — that a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal will not come easily for the Americans.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 11, 2021
BF: Meaningless statistics, such as a promoted team’s Premier League record despite not having played in the top flight for years.
From The Guardian • May 14, 2019
Meaningless words that didn’t nourish us, that didn’t comfort us, that kept us prisoners in her alphabet world.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
