Inane

//ɪˈneɪn// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1
That which is void or empty.
"The undistinguishable inane of infinite space."

Adjective

1
Lacking sense or meaning, often to the point of boredom or annoyance.
"This supremely gifted kid told me that in the early elementary grades, the songs sung in music class were so inane that he wanted to skip grades already! Eventually he did, so better late than never."
2
Purposeless; pointless.
"Vague and inane instincts."

Adjective

1
extremely silly or stupid wordnet

Synonyms

asinine silly harebrained absurd aimless airy

Antonyms

brainy bright meaningful quick on the uptake

Example

"Non sequitur is the last resort of the inane."

Etymology

From Latin inānis (“empty, vain, useless”), of unknown origin.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.