as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
it was asinine to run into the street like that
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Recent Examples of asinine
All of that would have seemed asinine mere weeks ago.
—
Chad Graff, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Speaking of people getting into hot water for saying asinine things, don’t miss Sabrina Impacciatore’s brilliantly inappropriate portrayal of Esmeralda Grande in The Office spin-off/continuation The Paper, which premieres on Peacock on Thursday, September 4.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 1 Sep. 2025
Featured Presentations Final Destination: Bloodlines Family gatherings can already be a pain, but imagine that pain being asinine deaths that claim everyone one by one.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 17 May 2025
What's worse than luring Robert De Niro to Netflix for a boring, soulless and asinine political thriller?
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
Alonso may not be the priority at first base for the Bronx Bombers, but to say there is zero interest is asinine.
—Gord Magill, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024
Altman’s is a plainly asinine claim; a bunch of code running in a data center is not the same as a brain.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
Comedy videos about customer service and asinine Atlanta eatery rules were already popular on TikTok but have seen major pickup since Lee’s viral videos.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2023
Rogozin's claim that the only evidence Roscosmos could offer of the Moon landings was a book by Leonov is asinine.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
Chad Graff, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Speaking of people getting into hot water for saying asinine things, don’t miss Sabrina Impacciatore’s brilliantly inappropriate portrayal of Esmeralda Grande in The Office spin-off/continuation The Paper, which premieres on Peacock on Thursday, September 4.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 1 Sep. 2025
Featured Presentations Final Destination: Bloodlines Family gatherings can already be a pain, but imagine that pain being asinine deaths that claim everyone one by one.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 17 May 2025
What's worse than luring Robert De Niro to Netflix for a boring, soulless and asinine political thriller?
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
Alonso may not be the priority at first base for the Bronx Bombers, but to say there is zero interest is asinine.
—Gord Magill, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024
Altman’s is a plainly asinine claim; a bunch of code running in a data center is not the same as a brain.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
Comedy videos about customer service and asinine Atlanta eatery rules were already popular on TikTok but have seen major pickup since Lee’s viral videos.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2023
Rogozin's claim that the only evidence Roscosmos could offer of the Moon landings was a book by Leonov is asinine.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asinine
Adjective
-
What happens, though, when those excesses transcend the merely stupid, the merely unjust, to become existential?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
People who approve of ICE’s actions aren’t necessarily stupid or evil.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
These politicians who are in their 80s and now 90s continuing to run for office is absurd.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Rates are soaring at absurd levels, but what’s worse is what many homeowners are getting in return — less coverage, fewer payouts and other negative effects.—
Dave Lieber,
Dallas Morning News,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Huw just waiting for him without involving the police or having really any plan whatsoever is just as silly.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Wain was joined by stars Ken Marino (who co-wrote the film), Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Ben Wang to reminisce about making their unapologetically silly comedy.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The idea of giving that over to a robot seems foolish [and] boring.—
Melinda Newman,
Billboard,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Black people cast and produced to look stupid and foolish as standard operating procedure.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
And there’s Harrison Ford, which is insane.—
Senior Television,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Jan. 2026
-
But that’s an indictment of our insane world, not Roher’s filmmaking.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
What a crazy winter this had been.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Holding space for your interests, priorities and life circumstances is good offense, but a crazy job market also requires strong career defense, such as plugging up your financial foundation and skill gaps.—
Caroline Ceniza-Levine,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Anything else would be idiotic.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
13 Jan. 2026
-
To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
Gwen Faulkenberry,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The far right just became very mad at me.—
Stephania Taladrid,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
-
But people are mad, and resolute.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Asinine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asinine. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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