stupid
Americanadjective
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lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; slow-witted.
-
characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless.
Sorry for asking a stupid question, but why is the answer four instead of five?
-
tediously boring, especially due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless.
He wished he'd never come to such a stupid party.
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annoying or irritating; troublesome.
Turn off that stupid radio.
-
in a state of stupor; stupefied.
After a twelve-hour work day, she was stupid from fatigue.
noun
adjective
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lacking in common sense, perception, or normal intelligence
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(usually postpositive) stunned, dazed, or stupefied
stupid from lack of sleep
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having dull mental responses; slow-witted
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trivial, silly, or frivolous
noun
Usage
What are other ways to say stupid? The adjective stupid describes things characterized or proceeding from mental dullness. Do you know when to use stupid, fatuous, silly, inane, foolish, and asinine? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Commonly Confused
Stupid, ignorant, and unintelligent are all used to refer to people or things that seem to show a lack of mental resources. Stupid is the most general and most insulting term, and can describe someone lacking in intelligence, wisdom, prudence, or mental quickness. Unintelligent refers to people or things that are lacking in capacity for learning, reasoning, or understanding. Ignorant, by contrast, generally means lacking in knowledge (not necessarily lacking in intelligence).
Related Words
See dull.
Other Word Forms
- stupidly adverb
- stupidness noun
- unstupid adjective
- unstupidly adverb
- unstupidness noun
Etymology
Origin of stupid
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin stupidus, equivalent to stup(ēre) “to be numb, to be stunned” + -idus -id 4 ( def. )
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.
Other kids whined or talked too much or told stupid jokes or wanted to play boring games.
From Literature
“Dad made chili and wouldn’t let me watch the animal channel because there was a basketball game and Janie was busy all weekend practicing that song for her stupid play.”
From Literature
He would never get these stupid things upstairs with Grief around.
From Literature
He made the pronouncement in a loud voice, to clearly communicate that he did not want to be here, did not want to have another stupid opportunity shoved down his throat.
From Literature
But as any Argentine will tell you, you would have to be stupid to literally hide cash under your mattress—it’s the first place a burglar would look.
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.
