as in goofy
lacking in seriousness or maturity
a scatterbrained child who couldn't seem to pay attention or stop fooling around
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Recent Examples of scatterbrained
The novel begins on a Monday afternoon like any other at its three adolescent central characters’ loving but scatterbrained aunt Xía’s house in Miami.
—
Juan Vidal, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
The company enlisted Donald Duck’s scatterbrained cartoon uncle, Prof. Ludwig Von Drake, in a video on votedisney.com to make its case that Disney’s current board members are up to the job.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2024
Meanwhile, Hudson turns up her ditz-o-meter to 11, twirling and screaming her way through a performance that should remind Hollywood of her singular scatterbrained talents.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2022
Trying to stay organized can be a real pain, especially for those of us who may be a bit scatterbrained.
—Chris Hachey, BGR, 22 June 2021
President Biden had another dismal week thanks to the accelerating border crisis, the beginnings of his assault on the Second Amendment, Vice President Kamala Harris’s behavior and his scatterbrained performance at a Thursday news conference.
—Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2021
Donald Moffat is superb as a president who masks his ferocity with scatterbrained folksiness.
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Aug. 2020
Juan Vidal, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
The company enlisted Donald Duck’s scatterbrained cartoon uncle, Prof. Ludwig Von Drake, in a video on votedisney.com to make its case that Disney’s current board members are up to the job.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2024
Meanwhile, Hudson turns up her ditz-o-meter to 11, twirling and screaming her way through a performance that should remind Hollywood of her singular scatterbrained talents.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2022
Trying to stay organized can be a real pain, especially for those of us who may be a bit scatterbrained.
—Chris Hachey, BGR, 22 June 2021
President Biden had another dismal week thanks to the accelerating border crisis, the beginnings of his assault on the Second Amendment, Vice President Kamala Harris’s behavior and his scatterbrained performance at a Thursday news conference.
—Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2021
Donald Moffat is superb as a president who masks his ferocity with scatterbrained folksiness.
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Aug. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scatterbrained
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
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Gangly giraffes punctuated the grasslands like goofy exclamation points.—
The Editors,
Outside,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Alex is much more bookish, for example, although Cole is clever and can be academic and is in no way some silly, stupid jock or anything— but, in the obvious ways — and Cole is more sporty in the obvious ways.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
29 Aug. 2025
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This is not simply some silly bathroom joke.—
Pat Graham,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Kirsh can tell that the eyeball is intelligent in a way that the real sheep wasn’t, and Kavalier is once again giddy to play with all these new toys that crashed into his lap.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
26 Aug. 2025
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McNamara weaves these bits in well, and Cumberbatch and Colman — so naturally giddy around each other — slowly start to, if not come apart, at least poke at each other.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The Rockies’ brass, however, doesn’t believe the future is futile.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
31 Aug. 2025
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For a company of its size, competing on scale is futile.—
Lela London,
Forbes.com,
30 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scatterbrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scatterbrained. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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