1
as in goofy
lacking in seriousness or maturity
the movie follows the harebrained antics of a pair of stoners who seem incapable of growing up
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
a harebrained idea to go for a hike in an area where grizzly bear attacks had recently been reported
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harebrained
Here are some methods for scraping good music from the data wasteland, organized in a hierarchy from bottom-feeder basics to more sophisticated and ultimately, uhh, harebrained strategies.
—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
31 July 2025
More harebrained projects follow, and the family’s tilting house finally tumbles after neighbors and acquaintances slowly chip away at the building to repurpose many of the structure’s materials.
—
Anita Snow,
Boston Herald,
25 July 2025
Cuomo staying in the race could make for the most unpredictable, harebrained mayoral election that New York has had since 1977.
—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
3 July 2025
One of Steve’s harebrained schemes involves founding a movie theater speakeasy, for which the film-loving pair decides to pinch the private print at the following week’s engagement.
—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for harebrained
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
31 July 2025
More harebrained projects follow, and the family’s tilting house finally tumbles after neighbors and acquaintances slowly chip away at the building to repurpose many of the structure’s materials.
—
Anita Snow,
Boston Herald,
25 July 2025
Cuomo staying in the race could make for the most unpredictable, harebrained mayoral election that New York has had since 1977.
—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
3 July 2025
One of Steve’s harebrained schemes involves founding a movie theater speakeasy, for which the film-loving pair decides to pinch the private print at the following week’s engagement.
—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for harebrained
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harebrained
Adjective
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Margaret, what the president said is just goofy word salad.
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As Buffy’s bafoonish brother, Dave Sheridan played an unlikely killer (though Doofy GIlmore ends up being far less goofy than originally expected).
Adjective
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Further, Plato’s disdain for Gorgias, Antisthenes’ first teacher, and sophistry in general is clear; in the Platonic dialogue Gorgias, the titular character is made out to be rather foolish.
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One is villianized and one is made to look foolish.
Adjective
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Every player with a pulse had six suitors throwing silly money around.
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Some scenes in the movie are light and silly, including those pairing Maddie with a lesbian friend, played by Kate Berlant, who clearly loves her.
Adjective
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And no, that was NOT OutKick or FOX who wrote that stupid headline.
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The thing about House of the Dragon is that everything really is quite stupid.
Adjective
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Exciting and futile The Humans to Titan Summit was both exciting and futile, said Pascal Lee, chairman of the Mars Institute and a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute.
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All these plans acknowledge the experience gap, namely that training without arranging relevant work experience is often futile.
Adjective
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The 41-year-old is still an elite NBA player, which is still an absurd reality to consider.
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The thesis rests on a claim that would have sounded absurd a year ago.
Adjective
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Ureña, a 22-year-old right-hander who has emerged as another potential ace, speaks of Soriano with a giddy amusement mixed with a solemn respect for how the starter has survived in the big leagues.
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For now, the stock market and the credit market are telling slightly different stories about the same companies, one giddy and one wary.
Adjective
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For example, Fred Again is absolutely doing insane things with the MPC Lives.
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That dwarfs anything the powerhouse Spain teams did in the early 2010s, when the team was known for stringing together an insane number of passes that led to a goal.
Cite this Entry
“Harebrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harebrained. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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