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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Hope Anne is goofy, affectionate, full of zest, and has so much love to give.—
Trish Stinger,
Kansas City Star,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Gangly giraffes punctuated the grasslands like goofy exclamation points.—
The Editors,
Outside,
31 Aug. 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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The recent rash of CEOs Gone Wild is arguably even stupider than commonplace fraud, and a troubling sign that there continues to be a slippery slope of accountability for C-Suite leadership.—
Ian Chaffee,
Fortune,
5 Sep. 2025
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The accounts team logs in right on time, and the stupid dance of platitudes that precedes every meeting at every company around the world begins.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 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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Stines’ defense attorneys, Jeremy and Kerri Bartley, say the sheriff was insane at the time of the killing and want his full mental health report – which is currently sealed – released to the public.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
6 Sep. 2025
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Making straight men insane comes with the territory on one of TV’s most-talked about shows of the last five years (House of the Dragon continues to rack up toward 10 million viewers per ep).—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harebrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harebrained. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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