meaningless

adjective

mean·​ing·​less ˈmē-niŋ-ləs How to pronounce meaningless (audio)
Synonyms of meaninglessnext
1
: having no meaning
especially : lacking any significance
felt his work was meaningless
2
: having no assigned function in a language system
meaninglessly adverb
meaninglessness noun

Examples of meaningless in a Sentence

He felt that his work was meaningless. The movie was filled with meaningless violence.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
What on Tuesday night looked like a largely meaningless game with only minor seeding implications at the conference tournament suddenly took on greater importance 24 hours later. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2026 Look no further than your typical classroom, where a book being passionately taught by a professor is undoubtedly being judged as utterly meaningless by at least one of their students. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Mar. 2026 Now making promises is becoming meaningless. Brit McCandless Farmer, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2026 Shemar Bartholomew and Jaylin Simpson played in the meaningless regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings, but the Packers likely won’t rely on them for meaningful snaps in 2026. Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for meaningless

Word History

First Known Use

1796, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of meaningless was in 1796

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Meaningless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meaningless. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.

Kids Definition

meaningless

adjective
mean·​ing·​less ˈmē-niŋ-ləs How to pronounce meaningless (audio)
1
: having no meaning or significance
meaningless chatter
2
: lacking motive
a meaningless murder
meaninglessly adverb
meaninglessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on meaningless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster