inane
1 of 2adjective
inane
2 of 2noun
V. G. Childe
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Can inane Be Used As a Noun?
Inane suggests emptiness in thought or meaning, and as a noun it has similar use, as in "thoughts making excursions into the incomprehensible inane" (the example is attributed to the 17th-century philosopher John Locke). The noun is not often used nowadays, but the adjective fills the void.
Synonyms
Adjective
- empty
- meaningless
- pointless
- senseless
Example Sentences
Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic, 15 Mar. 2004 The surfeit of home runs is a sop to all the Philistines who require inane diversions like programmed races between electronic dots on the scoreboard to make it through a two-hit shutout. Nicholas Dawidoff, New York Times Magazine, 4 Apr. 1999 Though feminist leaders are mostly aligned with those sentiments, they can't separate their quest for economic equity from the inane political correctness of their extremist sisters. Mary Matalin, Newsweek, 25 Oct. 1993 I quickly tired of their inane comments. The film's plot is inane and full of clichés. Noun And thus likewise we sometimes speak of place, distance, or bulk in the great inane beyond the confines of the world. John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1689 See More Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 20 July 2022 The events of the past 24 hours are a sordid and quite extraordinary almost-end to a sordid and quite extraordinary career, one that was profoundly inane in one respect and incontestably historic in another. Tom Mctague, The Atlantic, 7 July 2022 To begin with, there is an inane amount of marketing material with which institutions flood mailboxes and inboxes. Brennan Barnard, Forbes, 2 June 2022 Finals ticket was punched, we were reminded of the inane conversations that went down five or six months ago about the viability of the Brown and Tatum pairing as a legitimate contender. Sean Deveney, Forbes, 3 June 2022 Can’t the truck figure out that the output and input rates are ramping up in lockstep to sniff out this inane behavior? Dave Vanderwerp, Car and Driver, 2 June 2022 But his elastic resistance belt TeddyBand — one of his painfully inane inventions — does nothing other than slap him in the face. Tomris Laffly, Variety, 23 June 2022 And then the questions were so inane that the anxiety was quickly replaced by boredom and defeat. Lauren Puckett-pope, ELLE, 24 May 2022 By now things have become unsettling, with the monitor blaring increasingly inane and disturbing updates, the lights flickering off, and the school going into its nightly lockdown. Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 19 May 2022 Armond White, National Review, 27 May 2022 Olive misses her husband and daughter back on the moon as her publisher spirits her to public readings, panel discussions and inane interviews with poorly prepared journalists. Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2022 His behavior and inane remarks have likely contributed to the decline. Richard N. Bond, CNN, 23 Mar. 2022 However, even his uptempo contributions border on the inane. Jon O'brien, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 HBO Max's row, although not listed as sponsored, suffers from the same inane, baseless content recommendations. Corey Gaskin, Ars Technica, 2 Feb. 2022 Imitating Arthur’s inane work back to him is just twisting the knife. Kathleen Newman-bremang, refinery29.com, 13 Jan. 2022 Not until Page 672 does Obama mention him by name, in a passage on the inane 2011 controversy over his birthplace. Dallas News, 18 Nov. 2020 Not until page 672 does Obama mention him by name, in a passage on the inane 2011 controversy over his birthplace. Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2020 See More Word History
Adjective and Noun
Latin inanis
Adjective
1662, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Noun
1677, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
inane
adjective
inane 1 of 2
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- meaningless
- absurd
- stupid
- pointless
- silly
- irrational
- foolish
- senseless
- empty
- asinine
- nonsensical
- unreasonable
- trivial
- frivolous
- fatuous
- insane
- slight
- unimportant
- zany
- mindless
- daft
- inconsequential
- preposterous
- trifling
- unintelligent
- witless
- insignificant
- wacky
- brainless
- loony
- little
- minor
- lunatic
- whacky
- sappy
- nutty
- harebrained
- kooky
- daffy
- simpleminded
- empty-headed
- unwise
- haphazard
- inconsiderable
- aimless
- mad
- dotty
- purposeless
- negligible
- crackpot
- crazy
- looney
- tomfool
- half-witted
- jerky
- cuckoo
- kookie
- weak-minded
- balmy
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- meaningful
- significant
- eloquent
- suggestive
- logical
- reasonable
- expressive
- rational
- valid
- important
- major
- pregnant
- substantial
- revealing
- key
- telling
- momentous
- consequential
- eventful
- weighty
inane
2 of 2noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- nothingness
- vacuum
- open
- blank
- waste
- air
- void
- black hole
- blankness
- hollow
- vacuity
- emptiness
- hollowness
- barrenness
- vacancy
- bleakness
- desolateness
- bareness
- gap
- cavity
- hole
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- fulness
- fullness
- repleteness
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of inane are banal, flat, insipid, jejune, and vapid. While all these words mean "devoid of qualities that make for spirit and character," inane implies a lack of any significant or convincing quality.
Although the words banal and inane have much in common, banal stresses the complete absence of freshness, novelty, or immediacy.
The words flat and inane are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, flat applies to things that have lost their sparkle or zest.
In some situations, the words insipid and inane are roughly equivalent. However, insipid implies a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest.
While in some cases nearly identical to inane, jejune suggests a lack of rewarding or satisfying substance.
While the synonyms vapid and inane are close in meaning, vapid suggests a lack of liveliness, force, or spirit.