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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
a witless decision to relocate to the other side of the country without even the prospect of a job
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in insanity
lack of good sense or judgment
his astounding feats of witlessness are the stuff of family legend
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2
as in thickness
the quality or state of lacking intelligence or quickness of mind
for sheer witlessness the movie's dialogue deserves some sort of award
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of witless
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2025
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
Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for witless
Adjective
Witherspoon’s timing is whip-crack good, and Ferrell’s is, too, on a different wavelength, even when the material’s settling for surprisingly witless profanity punchlines that don’t quiiiiite qualify as actual jokes.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2025
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
Noun
No, but the line captures the aristocracy’s witlessness.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for witless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for witless
Adjective
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As Legally Blonde's Elle Woods, Witherspoon charted a memorable path from dumb blonde to Harvard Law School graduate.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
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Celebrities fight it out to be eliminated from the competition as quickly as possible to avoid being crowned the nation’s dumbest.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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What gave me the crazy idea to stand at the bar, listening to that woman being praised for her stupid f---ing commitment to New York City and her ugly f---ing buildings?—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
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Her mechanism for luring victims involves a stick, someone’s hair, her blood, and another person stupid enough to let her through their front door.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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This insanity has to stop before anyone else gets hurt.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
6 Nov. 2025
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Though his legal team argued insanity, Guiteau was found guilty of murder in January 1882 and executed five months later.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Wing vibration frequency The secret behind the system’s efficiency lies in identifying the wing’s natural resonance frequency, which shifts constantly in response to changes in speed, altitude, temperature, humidity, and ice thickness.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
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According to Brown, the best way to avoid this kind of mess is to vary the thickness of the chains.—
Jessie Quinn,
StyleCaster,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Hoover finished 319 yards on 34-of-50 passing, but his two turnovers were critical mistakes that led to TCU’s slow start in the first half.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 Nov. 2025
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When visiting the exhibit, plan on taking your time to make the most of it, or what the American Federation of Arts calls slow looking.—
Susan B. Barnes,
Southern Living,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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That was questionable, but not egregiously foolish, in our view, because of the limited amount of time left.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
3 Nov. 2025
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Another agent pointed to how contractions in post-strike, post-pandemic Hollywood have decimated the theater business, creating new opportunities that Netflix would be foolish to pass up.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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What starts as a cathartic process spirals out-of-control, as the line between justice and madness blurs.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
6 Nov. 2025
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The American people will hate this madness, but that makes no difference to a president increasingly unmoored from reality.—
Newsweek Contributors,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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According to Bruce Blair, a former Air Force launch officer and nuclear policy expert, between 1962 and the mid-1970s the most powerful digits on the globe were simple – eight zeros.—
Charlotte Reck,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
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That something as simple as a COVID vaccine might improve survival in cancer patients receiving standard immunotherapy has taken oncologists by surprise — in a good way.—
Lisa Jarvis,
Twin Cities,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Witless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/witless. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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