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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
  • Fewer than one per cent of Americans charged with felonies plead insanity, and the great majority of those who do have previously been hospitalized with a serious psychiatric condition.
    — Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • And the polarizing trial of Lindsay Clancy, a labor-and-delivery nurse who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after killing her three children in 2023, has captivated the country since July.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of insanity
Noun
  • Co-existing in the same composition, those visible shifts in speed, thickness, and direction carved out three-dimensional spaces of ravishing complexity and urgency.
    — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026
  • These materials offer excellent shock absorption at a fraction of the thickness of previous materials.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of thickness
Noun
  • With one of the regional sites next April moving from Bridgeport to PeoplesBank Arena, and another regional scheduled for Springfield, UConn has a chance to really extend the madness past March around here.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Prison interviews and recovered footage slowly reveal how deeply entangled the two men had become in their shared madness.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 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
  • Black Beans and Sausage The simplicity of this dish allows the true flavors of each ingredient to shine through, meaning the earthy black beans won’t get lost in translation, even when paired with smoky sausage.
    — Riley Wofford, Martha Stewart, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Ebicos Those who don't mind a permanent camper installation might prefer the simplicity of the Happy Dreamer Electric, which deploys and retracts with a single push of a button.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of simplicity
Noun
  • 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
  • The latest contestant in this recurring game of fiscal stupidity is Miami.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of stupidity
Noun
  • The release might be pleasure, humour, violence, absurdity, beauty, desire.
    — PhotoVogue, Vogue, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Get ready for a chaotic, genre-bending ride through the glorious absurdities of modern life!
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 16 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

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 20 Sep. 2026.

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