asinine
/ˈasɪnʌɪn
/- A contestant makes a truly asinine remark and the boredom abates slightly, even as annoyance levels are soaring.
- Each interview conducted by a HR specialist was asinine in the extreme, without exception.
- However, all of his blind, asinine nonsense was going to be put to an end.
Synonyms
Derivatives
asininity
/ noun ...- What a sad opinion one forms of men, what bitterness grips one's heart when one sees such delirious asininity on display.
- I'm glad this particular bit of asininity was exposed to the harsh wind of public scrutiny beyond this humble organ.
- Three cheers for Wandsworth Council, once more applying common sense against bureaucratic asininity.
Origin
Late 15th century: from Latin asininus, from asinus 'ass'.
arse from Old English:
Like bum, arse was not originally a rude slang word. It dates back to before 1000 in English, and is connected to various old German and Scandinavian forms that were probably linked to Greek orros ‘the rump or bottom’. Arse was perfectly respectable until the 17th century. To go arse over tip (the original form, rather than tit) and not know your arse from your elbow are first found in the early 20th century. My arse! as a derisive comment is first recorded in the 1920s, though all these expressions are probably older. The American spelling is ass, which is nothing to do with ass meaning ‘donkey’. The latter is from an Old English word that is related to easel and goes back to Latin asinus, as in asinine (Late Middle English) or stupid. See also wheat