inane

1 of 2

adjective

inaner; inanest
1
: lacking significance, meaning, or point : silly
inane comments
2
inanely adverb
inaneness noun

inane

2 of 2

noun

: void or empty space
a voyage into the limitless inaneV. G. Childe

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Can inane Be Used As a Noun?

Inane suggests emptiness in thought or meaning, and as a noun it has similar use, as in "thoughts making excursions into the incomprehensible inane" (the example is attributed to the 17th-century philosopher John Locke). The noun is not often used nowadays, but the adjective fills the void.

Choose the Right Synonym for inane

insipid, vapid, flat, jejune, banal, inane mean devoid of qualities that make for spirit and character.

insipid implies a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest.

an insipid romance with platitudes on every page

vapid suggests a lack of liveliness, force, or spirit.

an exciting story given a vapid treatment

flat applies to things that have lost their sparkle or zest.

although well-regarded in its day, the novel now seems flat

jejune suggests a lack of rewarding or satisfying substance.

a jejune and gassy speech

banal stresses the complete absence of freshness, novelty, or immediacy.

a banal tale of unrequited love

inane implies a lack of any significant or convincing quality.

an inane interpretation of the play

Examples of inane in a Sentence

Adjective All around us swirls the battering of gargantuan films, Styrofoam epics with megatons of special effects, gleefully inane adolescent films, horror films that really are horrible. Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic, 15 Mar. 2004
The surfeit of home runs is a sop to all the Philistines who require inane diversions like programmed races between electronic dots on the scoreboard to make it through a two-hit shutout. Nicholas Dawidoff, New York Times Magazine, 4 Apr. 1999
Though feminist leaders are mostly aligned with those sentiments, they can't separate their quest for economic equity from the inane political correctness of their extremist sisters. Mary Matalin, Newsweek, 25 Oct. 1993
I quickly tired of their inane comments. The film's plot is inane and full of clichés. Noun And thus likewise we sometimes speak of place, distance, or bulk in the great inane beyond the confines of the world. John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1689
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
This inane ornament is finally making its departure. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024 What also separates this era of artfully inane music is the sheer volume of it and its wide-scale popularity. Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 19 Jan. 2024 Start with the fact that the 2004 film Mean Girls (directed by Mark Waters) was never good, although fans endorsed its inane satire about guileful and insecure young girls going through life with bad manners. Armond White, National Review, 17 Jan. 2024 In journalism, where publishers have tried using AI to generate news stories or guides to produce more content for less money, some companies have eased off their plans after a couple of hiccups involving insensitive, inane, or inaccurate articles. Emilia David, The Verge, 4 Dec. 2023 And for God's sake - stop the inane process of making a deal of any kind with them! Noah Rothman, National Review, 17 Nov. 2023 Yet the object of Frum’s distress was an inane gif, first tweeted by a user named @SilERabbit, in which Joe Biden appeared to be waggling his tongue lasciviously. Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023 This Story New House Speaker Once Blamed Abortions for Social Security, Medicare Cuts Mike Johnson tried to justify Republican cuts to the social safety net in the most inane way. Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic, 27 Oct. 2023 The spoiled, greedy child of spoiled, greedy parents, SBF resembles no popular fictional character more than A.J. Soprano, one of the most ingeniously inane, selfish, rotten kids ever invented for TV. Jacob Bacharach, The New Republic, 12 Oct. 2023
Noun
June 19: [At the disco Private Eyes, with Greg and friends]: spent a couple of hours amidst the inane thumping music. Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2022 My guess is that the patriotic disguise is hollow and that the inane, formulaic Maverick is a test. Armond White, National Review, 27 May 2022 Olive misses her husband and daughter back on the moon as her publisher spirits her to public readings, panel discussions and inane interviews with poorly prepared journalists. Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2022 His behavior and inane remarks have likely contributed to the decline. Richard N. Bond, CNN, 23 Mar. 2022 However, even his uptempo contributions border on the inane. Jon O'Brien, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 HBO Max's row, although not listed as sponsored, suffers from the same inane, baseless content recommendations. Corey Gaskin, Ars Technica, 2 Feb. 2022 Imitating Arthur’s inane work back to him is just twisting the knife. Kathleen Newman-Bremang, refinery29.com, 13 Jan. 2022 Not until Page 672 does Obama mention him by name, in a passage on the inane 2011 controversy over his birthplace. Dallas News, 18 Nov. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inane.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Latin inanis

First Known Use

Adjective

1662, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

1677, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of inane was in 1662

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Cite this Entry

“Inane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inane. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

inane

adjective
in-ˈān
: lacking meaning or point : silly
inane remarks about the weather
inanely adverb
inaneness
-ˈān-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on inane

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