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
  • But this is preposterous, this is insanity, this is the very essence of bedlam.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The need for any person to openly brandish a sidearm or a person to carry an assault rifle on his shoulder is absolute insanity.
    — Dan Sweeney, Sun Sentinel, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of insanity
Noun
  • While the polyester fabric isn’t ideal, I was impressed by the coat’s thickness and weight, which gave it a more luxurious feel than typical poly-blend coats.
    — Irene Richardson, InStyle, 29 Sep. 2026
  • By adjusting the concentration of ions and the thickness of the ionogel, the team created devices with different response speeds.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of thickness
Noun
  • The director likens his own role on the trip to that of Bill, who is slowly driven to madness by worrying about a particular child, the class punching bag Kenneth (Olof Olingdahl).
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Common sense gun regulations are the only hope for reversing this madness.
    — Dan Sweeney, Sun Sentinel, 22 Sep. 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
  • Much like Dear Donna at day, the menu aims for simplicity and brevity, approachability and warm sentimentality.
    — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026
  • There’s a charmingly old-school simplicity to the proceedings.
    — Bradley Iger, Robb Report, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of simplicity
Noun
  • Nerdiest song for drummers This will probably come down to stupidity.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
  • This stupidity is tantamount to a cop issuing a summons to someone picking their nose in public to prove that crime is out of control.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of stupidity
Noun
  • As the interviewer, Clark had a responsibility to identify the absurdity of the claim.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The release might be pleasure, humour, violence, absurdity, beauty, desire.
    — PhotoVogue, Vogue, 17 Sep. 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

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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 3 Oct. 2026.

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