1
as in unsubstantial
being of a material lacking in sturdiness or substance
an insubstantial carton that could not possibly stand up during long-distance shipping
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spiritual
not composed of matter
energy is insubstantial
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insubstantial
These insubstantial claims did not improve much after the European powers departed.
—
Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
After speaking to my physician colleagues and hearing their earnest frustrations, there’s no doubt in my mind that the system needs reform and the association’s proposals—which are not insubstantial and would address many of the problems —are a great place to start.
—Sachin H. Jain, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
The film and television tax credit may seem slightly insubstantial when compared with the state of the world right now, Rhine advised in a session largely focused on messaging.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2025
Trump and Musk are truly onions made of glass: shiny orbs of one insubstantial layer over another, with nothing in the center, liable to be shattered under the slightest pressure.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for insubstantial
Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
After speaking to my physician colleagues and hearing their earnest frustrations, there’s no doubt in my mind that the system needs reform and the association’s proposals—which are not insubstantial and would address many of the problems —are a great place to start.
—Sachin H. Jain, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
The film and television tax credit may seem slightly insubstantial when compared with the state of the world right now, Rhine advised in a session largely focused on messaging.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2025
Trump and Musk are truly onions made of glass: shiny orbs of one insubstantial layer over another, with nothing in the center, liable to be shattered under the slightest pressure.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for insubstantial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insubstantial
Adjective
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This can alter the amount and types of ACE-inhibiting peptides created during fermentation2—and possibly account for kombucha's unsubstantial effect on blood pressure.—
MD Published,
Verywell Health,
27 Dec. 2025
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Then again … This really does sum up Reeves’s unsubstantial performance as Jonathan Harker, whose new client is definitely up to no good.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Though operational only from 2000, its regal and spiritual trappings lend a unique old-world charm to those who come here—mostly from India, the Middle East, the UK, USA, France and Russia—looking for more than massages and weight loss.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
17 Mar. 2026
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Honig is the newest assistant rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, one of the largest Conservative Jewish synagogues on the North Shore and the spiritual home to roughly 1,000 families.—
Claire Murphy,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That flimsy bobber did its job and triggered the most deadly terrorist act of the Civil Rights Movement.—
John Archibald,
Southern Living,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Listen, comedy films have been constructed around flimsier premises.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Positioned as a large-scale genre event, the series updates the legendary SFX property with a contemporary political and social edge, with Shun Oguri leading the cast as a detective hunting a seemingly incorporeal killer.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Jan. 2026
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In fact, magical life has the potential to be even more radically incorporeal than our own.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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The type of memory flashbacks that are shot at knee level, gauzy and out of focus, with a gossamer visual touch to conjure whispering, buried emotions of the past.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
17 Feb. 2026
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Perverts By turns a budding chart sensation, a political firebrand, and an enthusiastic cataloguer of cryptids, Ethel Cain interrupts a stream of gossamer pop, folk, and rock records with Perverts, a droning rejection of the accessibility of her 2022 Billboard top-ten debut Preacher’s Daughter.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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In the summer of 2023, the original organizers of what would become the Denver Summit NWSL franchise had a hunch—more like metaphysical certitude, really—that a massive untapped market existed for professional women’s soccer in the Mile High City.—
Luke Cyphers,
Sportico.com,
12 Mar. 2026
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In those earlier pictures, metaphysical conceits became visual and dramatic gambits as the filmmakers set out to colonize the vast interior worlds of, respectively, the mind and the spirit.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Regional cactus fruits and desert herbs are a highlight of Tierra’s three-course feasts, including the minty and rosemary-like rica-rica, which is as delicious in a sorbet as a frothy pisco sour.—
Mark Johanson,
Outside,
18 Mar. 2026
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This secondary shake will develop a frothy head because of the pineapple juice.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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And whether Americans really want data centres in their backyards may be immaterial in the coming decades.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
14 Mar. 2026
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The Epstein island police activity, for example, is likely immaterial to anyone betting on markets related to Jeffrey Epstein on Polymarket.—
Joe Wilkins,
Futurism,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insubstantial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insubstantial. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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