inane
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin inānis (“empty, vain, useless”), of unknown origin.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ɪˈneɪn/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ɪˈnæɪn/
Audio (Queensland): (file)
- Rhymes: -eɪn
Adjective
[edit]inane (comparative inaner or more inane, superlative inanest or most inane)
- Lacking sense or meaning, often to the point of boredom or annoyance.
- (lacking sense): Synonyms: silly, fatuous, vapid
- This supremely gifted kid told me that in the early elementary grades, the songs sung in music class were so inane that he wanted to skip grades already! Eventually he did, so better late than never.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 237:
- Francesca followed, reluctant enough in her secret; for though she would not have admitted it even to herself, she did shrink from the infliction of the inane solemnities with which her father garnished his discourse—to say nothing of the ungracious reflections which so often glanced at herself.
- 2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 156:
- God, if she had to listen to another conversation about some kid she didnʼt know—how Tina J. stole the stage at the talent show or Bobby R. won the tee ball game or any other number of inane accomplishments.
- Purposeless; pointless.
- 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:
- Vague and inane instincts.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]lacking sense or meaning
|
purposeless; pointless
|
Noun
[edit]inane (plural inanes)
- That which is void or empty.
- 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 13:
- The undistinguishable inane of infinite space.
- 1874–1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1881, →OCLC:
- […] whom we watch as we watch the clouds careering in the windy, bottomless inane, or read about like characters in ancient and rather fabulous annals.
Anagrams
[edit]Italian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]inane m or f by sense (plural inani) (literary)
- (rare) empty, void, hollow
- useless, vain, inane
- Synonyms: inconcludente, infruttuoso, inutile, (literary) irrito, vano
- Antonym: utile
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- inane in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Anagrams
[edit]Latin
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ɪˈnaː.nɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [iˈnaː.ne]
Adjective
[edit]ināne
Noun
[edit]ināne n (genitive inānis); third declension
Declension
[edit]Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ināne | inānia |
| genitive | inānis | inānium |
| dative | inānī | inānibus |
| accusative | ināne | inānia |
| ablative | inānī | inānibus |
| vocative | ināne | inānia |
References
[edit]- “inane”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “inane”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “inane”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) rich in ideas: sententiis abundans or creber (opp. sententiis inanis)
- (ambiguous) mere words; empty sound: inanis verborum sonitus
- (ambiguous) senseless rant: inanium verborum flumen
- (ambiguous) to be misled by a vain hope: inani, falsa spe duci, induci
- (ambiguous) rich in ideas: sententiis abundans or creber (opp. sententiis inanis)
Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]
- Hyphenation: i‧na‧ne
Adjective
[edit]inane m or f (plural inanes)
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “inane”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]inane m or f (masculine and feminine plural inanes)
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “inane”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
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- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English 2-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/eɪn
- Rhymes:English/eɪn/2 syllables
- English lemmas
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- Italian terms derived from Latin
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- Rhymes:Italian/ane
- Rhymes:Italian/ane/3 syllables
- Italian lemmas
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- Rhymes:Spanish/ane
- Rhymes:Spanish/ane/3 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
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- Spanish epicene adjectives