1
as in stupid
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
the fatuous questions that the audience members asked after the lecture suggested to the oceanographer that they had understood little
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
ignoring the avalanche warnings, the fatuous skiers continued on their way down the trail
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fatuous
So although these actions may seem fatuous on the surface, the next four years will be about looking for the undercurrents.
—
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025
Second, this rationale for regulation proved to be illogical and fatuous as conceded by U.S. Courts and the Federal Communications Commission in the decades since.
—Carine Harb, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025
This fatuous facial gesture is immediately relatable but also, as Locke discusses below, one that can be read in a number of different ways.
—Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Schools must accept that mission statements without curriculum alignment are fatuous; the way schools define themselves is through the experience that flows from their curriculum.
—Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fatuous
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025
Second, this rationale for regulation proved to be illogical and fatuous as conceded by U.S. Courts and the Federal Communications Commission in the decades since.
—Carine Harb, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025
This fatuous facial gesture is immediately relatable but also, as Locke discusses below, one that can be read in a number of different ways.
—Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Schools must accept that mission statements without curriculum alignment are fatuous; the way schools define themselves is through the experience that flows from their curriculum.
—Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fatuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fatuous
Adjective
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What gave me the crazy idea to stand at the bar, listening to that woman being praised for her stupid f---ing commitment to New York City and her ugly f---ing buildings?—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
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Her mechanism for luring victims involves a stick, someone’s hair, her blood, and another person stupid enough to let her through their front door.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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That was questionable, but not egregiously foolish, in our view, because of the limited amount of time left.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
3 Nov. 2025
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Another agent pointed to how contractions in post-strike, post-pandemic Hollywood have decimated the theater business, creating new opportunities that Netflix would be foolish to pass up.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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But also these dumb things, from another perspective, can have a certain type of digital trashy poetry.—
Andy Crump,
Time,
31 Oct. 2025
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The bounty hunter kills some random dudes who are dumb enough to cross him and steals a Falka doll from some little girls who have adopted the Rats as folk heroes.—
Scott Meslow,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The combination of absurd temperatures, damp humidity, and having my hair stick to my neck daily was driving me insane.—
Kayla Greaves,
Essence,
6 Nov. 2025
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Plus, who doesn’t love Nick Offerman sharing the screen with absurd facial hair?—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Tiles also exhibited hysteresis, which was smaller at slower speeds due to the rubber’s viscoelastic properties, as reported by Nanowerk.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Nov. 2025
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Levi, an electrical engineer who founded MicroKits in 2020, has had to raise prices, slow production and pause plans to launch a new product – Banan-a-Synth – that lets kids turn a bunch of bananas into a kind of keyboard.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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In the picture, Diplo makes a silly face while Trudeau stares straight into the camera.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
3 Nov. 2025
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This fourth installment finds plenty to mine from Jigsaw and his diabolical traps — and yes, that silly tricycle-riding clown gets some screen time.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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According to Bruce Blair, a former Air Force launch officer and nuclear policy expert, between 1962 and the mid-1970s the most powerful digits on the globe were simple – eight zeros.—
Charlotte Reck,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
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That something as simple as a COVID vaccine might improve survival in cancer patients receiving standard immunotherapy has taken oncologists by surprise — in a good way.—
Lisa Jarvis,
Twin Cities,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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His votes, like his tattoos, just weren’t insane enough anymore.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
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His voice messages of songs are amazing and insane.—
Kristin Robinson,
Billboard,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fatuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fatuous. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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