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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Example Sentences
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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
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Afterlife movies tend to be amiable in a goofy way, one that ends up tamping down the stakes.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Hope Anne is goofy, affectionate, full of zest, and has so much love to give.—
Trish Stinger,
Kansas City Star,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But giving someone as historically great as Derrick Henry added motivation, certainly may prove to be a foolish decision from Delpit.—
Reice Shipley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
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There’s highly capable support in the cast from the unfailingly superb Vázquez, emanating gravitas, humanity and barely contained anger at the increasing frequency and spread of wildfires and the foolish refusal of those in power to address the growing threat.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Many kids find repeating these phrases satisfying, or silly, or just plain fun to say, Estevez says.—
Wendy Wisner,
Parents,
8 Sep. 2025
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There are no silly games being played.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And when Sam cooks up a truly stupid scheme to make some quick cash, there’s little doubt a heavy like Mickey isn’t going to like it.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
12 Sep. 2025
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There's a fine line between stupid and clever, indeed.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And, perhaps most dangerous still, these dreams of modernity shine an unwanted light on the futile hardship of the family’s status quo.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
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This alternating strategy is futile.—
Wesley Alexander Hill,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There’s no denying that catfish noodling is an absurd sport.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
11 Sep. 2025
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Barely any other media in recent times has given me an instant shock of glee or revulsion like this absurd anarcho-cartoon being stretched and squeezed to its most grotesque and wholesome clickbait limits.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Today's talkers Travis Kelce is giddy.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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The result is a sturdy uptrend, full valuations, hopeful but not overly giddy investor sentiment and solid credit conditions.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Malik Heath’s insane toe-tap grab on the sideline, which was reversed after video replay review, was a massive 37-yard swing for the Packers during the drive.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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None of their other work, arguably, has had the seismic impact or inspires the same insane quotability as This Is Spinal Tap.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harebrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harebrained. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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