clueless

adjective

clue·​less ˈklü-ləs 

1

: having or providing no clue

a clueless case for the police to solve

2

: completely or hopelessly bewildered, unaware, ignorant, or foolish

clueless about what they want

cluelessly adverb

I played dumb. I have arrived at a point in my life where I can perform this stunt with aplomb. "What do you mean?" I asked, as cluelessly as I knew how.

—Steve Friedman

cluelessness noun

Mowrey is also trying to make a deer hunter of Bentley, whose cluelessness as an outdoors-man is a rich source of amusement to his country-boy crony.

—Austin Murphy

Synonyms

• ignorant
• incognizant
• innocent
• insensible
• nescient
• oblivious
• unacquainted
• unaware
• unconscious
• uninformed
• unknowing
• unmindful
• unwitting

Examples of clueless in a Sentence

When it comes to computers, I'm clueless.

They were clueless about what to do.

Recent Examples on the Web

Is this what the ‘70s meant by the New Math? All of which is a roundabout way of saying that context matters, and while the people who actually have skin in the ratings game know what the deliveries are worth, much of the commentariat is more or less clueless. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 27 Dec. 2024

And at that age, kids aren’t completely clueless, but almost. —Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 22 Nov. 2024

These statistics are scary, but worse, a huge portion of pre-diabetics are clueless about their condition. —Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 24 Oct. 2024

Cast member Marcello Hernández played Don Francisco in the Dec. 21 episode’s Sábado Gigante Christmas Special sketch, also starring guest Paul Rudd as a clueless audience member who doesn’t speak Spanish yet finds himself on the Sábado Gigante stage. —Ashley Iasimone, Billboard, 22 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1743, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

clueless

adjective

clue·​less ˈklü-ləs 

: having or providing no clue