mindless
Americanadjective
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without intelligence; senseless.
a mindless creature.
-
unmindful or heedless.
mindless of all dangers.
adjective
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stupid or careless
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requiring little or no intellectual effort
a mindless task
Other Word Forms
- mindlessly adverb
- mindlessness noun
Etymology
Origin of mindless
before 1000; Middle English myndles, Old English gemyndlēas. See mind, -less
Explanation
Mindless things are done without any care or thought. If the kid sitting next to you in class won't stop the mindless tapping of his pencil against his desk, you'll have a hard time focusing on your vocabulary quiz. If something's careless or lacks reason, you can describe it as mindless, like the casual, mindless violence on a TV show. A mindless task is one that you can do without even thinking about it, like sweeping the sidewalk or stuffing fliers into envelopes. Mindless comes from the Old English myndleas, "foolish or senseless."
Vocabulary lists containing mindless
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.
“I’m happy, I’m successful … All I had to do is stay completely away from my family,” whose “nonstop antisocial behavior and mindless belligerence and mindless priorities are toxic to me.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
But for now, here are three quick ways to build a digital barrier between you and mindless unchecked spending:
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
I did, however, notice a very slight decrease in discomfort when breastfeeding my children “peacefully:” locking myself in a room and turning on the TV to watch something mostly mindless.
From Slate • Mar. 15, 2026
Even in its most cheerful, easy moments, the show rarely felt like escapism, which is the label often slapped onto much more mindless programs today.
From Salon • Jan. 16, 2026
She said she was just typing up invoices to send out for her business, the kind of mindless work she could do while keeping one eye on animated Legos.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
