witlessness

noun

Definition of witlessnessnext
1
as in insanity
lack of good sense or judgment his astounding feats of witlessness are the stuff of family legend

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obtuseness
the quality or state of lacking intelligence or quickness of mind for sheer witlessness the movie's dialogue deserves some sort of award

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 witlessness No, but the line captures the aristocracy’s witlessness. — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for witlessness
  1. insanity
  2. thickness
  3. madness
  4. stupidness
  5. simplicity
  6. stupidity
  7. absurdity
  8. dumbness
Noun
  • Claiming that white skin color is why Bueckers and other white women have had success/opportunities, is insanity.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • And that was like Vitalogy, probably the peak of the insanity.
    — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of insanity
Noun
  • Rocket Lab also deleted joints in the first stage tank structure and increased the thickness of some sections of the carbon composite.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2026
  • There are more than 650 regulatory elements associated with beak size and nearly 1,700 with beak thickness and breadth.
    — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of thickness
Noun
  • This being Dodge, of course, the AWD is optional and can be shut off at will when the driver prefers rear-wheel madness.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Gold joined the show in Season 2, just as muppet madness was really taking off.
    — K.J. Yossman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of madness
Noun
  • In an email to Krebs, Valadon claimed that the repo’s commit logs show that GitHub’s default protections against committing secrets—protections designed to protect unwitting or unskilled developers against exactly this kind of stupidness—had been disabled by the repo’s administrator.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 19 May 2026
Definition of stupidness
Noun
  • Such a complicated form belies the simplicity of much of the language in it.
    — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026
  • This season’s star was the Asa Tote, a large flat architectural shape with asymmetric shoulder straps that shined in its simplicity thanks to the contrasting textures, like in the charming canvas and leather version.
    — Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of simplicity
Noun
  • Learning that countless more people will lose their lives on account of his neglect, greed, and stupidity, he is pressed, reluctantly, into a most self-serving mode of damage control.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Nerdiest song for drummers This will probably come down to stupidity.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of stupidity
Noun
  • Early on, Sakurai exploits the inherent absurdity of telling a story populated by so many ludicrous characters.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Unlike Gregor Samsa who is confined to his room after transforming into a huge insect, the protagonist still has to go to work, a dark and bleak absurdity that lays bare the alienation, isolation, and hypocrisy of modern life.
    — Deadline, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of absurdity
Noun
  • The first 10 minutes are an incredible swirl of paranoia, alcoholism, and sluggish dumbness when Gould just needs to feed his cat.
    — Eric Farwell, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026
  • Unlike its sibling concepts of dumbness and idiocy, stupidity isn’t really a personality trait.
    — Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 11 Feb. 2026
Definition of dumbness

Browse Nearby Words

witless
witlessness
witness
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Cite this Entry

“Witlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/witlessness. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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