adjective
-
bereft of strength, sharpness, flavour, etc; flat
-
boring or dull; lifeless
vapid talk
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vapid
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin vapidus; akin to vapor
Explanation
Reserve the adjective vapid for the person in your office who brings nothing to the table, except maybe the doughnuts. Vapid is an adjective to describe someone or something that is dull or uninspiring. "We prefer not to consider the shockingly vapid and primitive comments uttered by athletes in postcontest interviews," David Foster Wallace wrote. The word was originally used in English in a much more literal sense, describing beverages that lacked flavor. It comes from the Latin word vapidus, literally "having exhaled its vapor."
Vocabulary lists containing vapid
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
To Kill a Mockingbird
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Even More Negative Words to Describe a Person
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
We get the sense that her old work had impact; her new stuff is vapid and tacky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
But that refusal to risk vulnerability comes back to bite her when the daughter she turned herself inside out to spoil pulls a move reminiscent of Veda in “Mildred Pierce,” betraying Emma for vapid reasons.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
"Someone can be vapid, have no depth and be on reality TV, but that doesn't mean that's true for every contestant," she adds.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
Ed, one of the sons of the family -- played by Turner -- serves as a narrator of sorts and sums up the rest of his family as "lazy, mediocre, vapid egotists".
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
With his deep brown, almost black eyes, he’d glare so intently at his opponents that some said he was attempting to hypnotize them into making a vapid move.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
