mindless
Americanadjective
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without intelligence; senseless.
a mindless creature.
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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
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.
Steffi Cao argues that we should be wary of the algorithm that incentivizes mindless scrolling, but there is nonetheless something charming about the wacky human storytelling that drives these videos.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
As always, I followed my heart and the mindless passion that lives there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
When mediocrity is the core objective of an extremely powerful company like this one, success hinges on turning the once-discerning viewer into a machine cog as mindless as one of Netflix’s baffling originals.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Morgan condemned the "mindless vandalism", saying "it is the cost to the community that sickens me the most".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
There was something serenely mindless in her manner.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
