witless

adjective

wit·​less ˈwit-ləs How to pronounce witless (audio)
1
: lacking wit or understanding : foolish
2
: mentally unsound
… drive one witless with anxiety.William Styron
witlessly adverb
witlessness noun

Examples of witless in a Sentence

He committed a witless blunder. a dog so witless that it is barely trainable
Recent Examples on the Web But apparently, California just couldn’t abide this challenge to its primacy as the most witless state in the union. Noah Rothman, National Review, 23 Sep. 2024 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) To borrow Jeff Bridges’s description of the magazine that Simon Pegg’s character once ran, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is witless. Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024 Police believed the perpetrators were the yakuza, who were irked by Itami’s portrayal of them as witless bullies outsmarted by a cunning attorney (played by Itami’s actress wife Nobuko Miyamoto, who starred in all of his films) in Minbo. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 22 Dec. 2023 Ayer does a more-than-decent job directing the action scenes, which is what matters most with such a witless genre entry. Peter Debruge, Variety, 10 Jan. 2024 See all Example Sentences for witless 

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

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of witless was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near witless

Cite this Entry

“Witless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/witless. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

witless

adjective
wit·​less ˈwit-ləs How to pronounce witless (audio)
: lacking wit : foolish
witlessly adverb
witlessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on witless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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