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Synonyms

meaningless

American  
[mee-ning-lis] / ˈmi nɪŋ lɪs /

adjective

  1. without meaning, mean, meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeless; insignificant.

    a meaningless reply; a meaningless existence.
meaningless British  
/ ˈmiːnɪŋlɪs /

adjective

  1. futile or empty of meaning

"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

  • meaninglessly adverb
  • meaninglessness noun

Etymology

Origin of meaningless

First recorded in 1790–1800; meaning + -less

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.

You don’t have to deny the pain caused by recent inflation to acknowledge that affordability in the abstract, detached from any circumstance, is meaningless.

From The Wall Street Journal

But Hockney said that figure was "meaningless", insisting: "It is priceless."

From BBC

Aunt Kitty didn’t utter meaningless comments like “That’s nice” unless her thoughts were racing off somewhere else.

From Literature

Dawda Jallow said that "its words will be meaningless unless they are acted upon and enforced" in the case of Myanmar.

From BBC

To execute a task that’s boring, frustrating or apparently meaningless, he suggests devising ways to make it more challenging—say, imposing an artificial deadline.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.