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
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of harebrained
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
Things got even more harebrained further down the Reddit thread.
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harebrained
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
Things got even more harebrained further down the Reddit thread.
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harebrained
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harebrained
Adjective
-
Norman spoke with Mixed Asian Media about her role in the show and how playing a hard-working ballet dancer compared to her real-life goofier and more extroverted personality.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Ross was fairly goofy in his courtships of coaches Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton and quarterback Tom Brady.—
Chris Perkins,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
House’s agenda is to get Cooper to reveal himself as secretly working against Vault-Tec for resistance leader Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), but Cooper isn’t that foolish.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
14 Jan. 2026
-
The Giants would be foolish to pay Harbaugh a ton of money and then not take full advantage of his expertise in the science of winning.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
This struck many experts as silly.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
11 Jan. 2026
-
Frequent co-stars Johnson and Hart, known for their hilarious chemistry, have played Rock, Paper, Scissors and other silly games in promos for their movies, especially their Jumanji films.—
Antonia Blyth,
Deadline,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Set in a perpetually sunny, idealized England vaguely between the wars, The Code of the Woosters concerns the misadventures of man-about-town Bertie Wooster (stupid, amiable, rich) and his impeccably helpful valet Jeeves.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
-
At Amiri’s trial last year, Manly-Williams was brushed off by the defense as the stupidest witness prosecutors presented.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Their effort to find a home in Overtown seemed futile until Miami-Dade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who grew up in Liberty City, conceived a brilliant idea.—
Dorothy Jenkins Fields,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
-
But the rally felt less threatening than futile.—
Zach Fisch,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
After the first Roundtable, Survivor stalwart Rob Cesternino — perhaps clued in by Candiace’s absurd conga line ploy to get people out of the kitchen — sniffed out that a murder in plain sight could be happening.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Contrary to what many may think, the researchers found no correlation between a person’s level of education and their capacity to believe in absurd conspiracies.—
Joe Wilkins Published Jan 8,
Futurism,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Parrish, giddy with excitement, led us into the water.—
Henry Wismayer,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Jan. 2026
-
There would be no third consecutive title, no hoisting of the championship cup over heads, no giddy laughter or shouts of joy.—
Tris Wykes,
Twin Cities,
3 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Code Pink is a bunch of insane radicals and someone could have gotten hurt.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Jan. 2026
-
At 5-foot-8 and 140 pounds, Keira is the first to admit she’s not blessed with insane athletic ability.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harebrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harebrained. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
