inane

adjective \ i-ˈnān \

Updated on: 7 Dec 2017

Definition of inane

inaner; inanest

1 : empty, insubstantial

2 : lacking significance, meaning, or point : silly

inane comments

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inanely

adverb

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inaneness

play \i-ˈnān-nəs\ noun

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Examples of inane in a Sentence

All around us swirls the battering of gargantuan films, Styrofoam epics with megatons of special effects, gleefully inane adolescent films, horror films that really are horrible. —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.

Recent Examples of inane from the Web

Consider this great inane internet debate of years past: Which athletes are best equipped to win a Battle Royale if limited to their own sport’s equipment with no protective padding or helmets?

— gabriel baumgaertner, SI.com, "After Yankees-Tigers Brawl, Has Baseball's Beanball Culture Gone Too Far?," 25 Aug. 2017
Remember how devoted certain kids used to be to Barney, the inane purple dinosaur with his own TV show?

— bill goodykoontz, Detroit Free Press, "Review: Offbeat ‘Brigsby Bear’ is charming and disturbing," 17 Aug. 2017
Among vast amounts of at-risk funding trapped in Pennsylvania’s inane budget impasse is money for in-state students at Temple, Pitt, Lincoln, and Penn State.

— john baer, Philly.com, "Pa.'s budget mess further threatens higher-ed," 10 Oct. 2017
The Journal made clear that the overpriced men’s sneakers are meant to be ridiculous in the same way that Ed Sheeran’s music is designed to be inane and trips to the DMV are meant to be infuriating.

— joe queenan, WSJ, "Next in Men’s Fashion: Ugly Is Beautiful," 26 Oct. 2017
In the same way, my chief residents have answered even my most inane questions without condescension or frustration.

— jason han, Philly.com, "A new doctor sees himself in his patients' anxiety over going home," 18 Oct. 2017
Otherwise the Perfect Society is perfectly inhuman and perfectly inane.

— martin amis, New York Times, "Martin Amis on Lenin’s Deadly Revolution," 16 Oct. 2017
No wonder supporters of Trump’s inane Iran speech are those bastions of democracy in the Persian Gulf.

— Washington Post, "Trump’s speech sparks a new war of words between US, Iran," 14 Oct. 2017
Kelly, a man of honor & decency, should stop this inane cruelty.

— anne gearan, Washington Post, "Trump: Ask General Kelly if he got a call from Obama when his son died," 17 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'inane.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of inane

Latin inanis

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First Known Use: 1662

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inane Synonyms

Synonyms

empty, meaningless, pointless, senseless

Antonyms

meaningful, significant

Related Words

frivolous, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, little, minor, negligible, slight, trifling, trivial, unimportant; absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, empty-headed, fatuous, foolish, half-witted, harebrained, insane, jerky, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, mindless, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, silly, simpleminded, stupid, tomfool, unintelligent, unwise, wacky (also whacky), weak-minded, witless, zany; irrational, unreasonable; aimless, haphazard, purposeless

Near Antonyms

eloquent, expressive, pregnant, revealing, suggestive, telling; logical, rational, reasonable, valid; consequential, eventful, important, key, major, momentous, substantial, weighty

Synonym Discussion of inane

insipid, vapid, flat, jejune, banal, inane mean devoid of qualities that make for spirit and character. insipid implies a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest.

- an insipid romance with platitudes on every page

vapid suggests a lack of liveliness, force, or spirit.

- an exciting story given a vapid treatment

flat applies to things that have lost their sparkle or zest.

- although well-regarded in its day, the novel now seems flat

jejune suggests a lack of rewarding or satisfying substance.

- a jejune and gassy speech

banal stresses the complete absence of freshness, novelty, or immediacy.

- a banal tale of unrequited love

inane implies a lack of any significant or convincing quality.

- an inane interpretation of the play

inane

noun \ i-ˈnān \

Definition of inane

: void or empty space

a voyage into the limitless inane
—V. G. Childe

Examples of inane in a Sentence

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

Can inane Be Used As a Noun?

The adjective "inane" is now most commonly encountered as a synonym of "shallow" or "silly." But when this word first entered the English language in the early 17th century, it was used to mean "empty" or "insubstantial." It was this older sense that gave rise, in the latter half of the 17th century, to the noun "inane," which often serves as a poetic reference to the void of space ("the illimitable inane," "the limitless inane," "the incomprehensible inane"). This noun usage has not always been viewed in a favorable light. Samuel Johnson, in his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), says of "inane" that "it is used licentiously for a substantive," which in current English means that it is used as a noun without regard to the rules.