witless 1 of 2

1
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily a dog so witless that it is barely trainable

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2

witlessness

2 of 2

noun

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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 witless
Adjective
The federal government, in all its wisdom, is once again gearing up to save the witless American people from themselves. Noah Rothman, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025 By most accounts, Trump’s ground game—powered by the witless Musk—was a bit of a mess, but Harris’s professional field operation seems to have been helpless to stem the tide of Trump’s support. The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024 But apparently, California just couldn’t abide this challenge to its primacy as the most witless state in the union. Noah Rothman, National Review, 23 Sep. 2024 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) To borrow Jeff Bridges’s description of the magazine that Simon Pegg’s character once ran, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is witless. Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for witless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for witless
Adjective
  • Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.
    Daniel Jackson, Allure, 18 July 2017
  • Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.
    Andy Benoit, The MMQB, 10 July 2017
Adjective
  • Mexican men were dismissed as violent Panchos and stupid Pedros.
    Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025
  • There’s more stupid romance around harder substances but few chemicals are more hazardous to ambition than THC.
    Benjamin Hale June 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
Noun
  • Defense had planned to argue insanity Purdy’s trial had been scheduled to take place in July.
    Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 June 2025
  • The trial was initially scheduled to begin three months ago but was delayed after Abril changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 25 June 2025
Noun
  • The thickness that each press can achieve also varies.
    BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2025
  • Click on the round brush head, and the tool transforms into a hair dryer brush that’s ideal for all hair lengths and thicknesses.
    Olivia Cigliano, Footwear News, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • The music is, for the most part, quiet and slow, often hovering at the edge of silence.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
  • Repeated waxing weakens follicles, making hair grow in finer and slower over time.
    Nia Bowers, USA Today, 23 June 2025
Adjective
  • Making a prediction for Game 7 is obviously foolish.
    The Athletic NBA Staff, New York Times, 22 June 2025
  • This seems foolish since the U.S. has some 25-30% of the world’s coal, which is even more than China.
    Jude Clemente, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
Noun
  • Eight is a cursed number, and this is the eighth day of madness.
    Fatemeh Shams June 30, Literary Hub, 30 June 2025
  • Lee’s sensitive, evolving turn as Gi-hun — deeply human amid the madness, paranoia and murder set in bright green and pink surroundings — has made the character the ideal litmus test for Hwang’s critique of an economic system designed to produce titanic winners and losers who face annihilation.
    Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing.
    Leila Sloman, Wired News, 29 June 2025
  • When the drink is this simple, there’s nowhere for sub-par ingredients to hide.
    Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 28 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Witless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/witless. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.

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