inane

English

WOTD – 23 January 2010

Etymology

From Middle French inane, from Latin inānis (“empty, vain, useless”) which is of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈneɪn/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Adjective

inane (comparative more inane, superlative most inane)

1. 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.

2. Purposeless; pointless
   • (Can we date this quote by I. Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Vague and inane instincts.

Derived terms

• inanely
• inanity

 

Translations

lacking sense or meaning

• Bulgarian: глупав (bg) (glupav), безсмислен (bg) (bezsmislen)
• Danish: intetsigende (da), åndsforladt
• Dutch: zinloos (nl), inhoudsloos (nl), stom (nl), flauw (nl)
• Finnish: tyhjä (fi), merkityksetön (fi), typerä (fi)
• French: inepte (fr), insensé (fr), niais (fr), inane (fr)
• German: sinnlos (de), albern (de), bedeutungslos (de), sinnfrei (de), inhaltsleer
• Maori: heahea
• Norwegian: intetsigende
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: bezmyślny (pl), głupi (pl)
• Portuguese: inane, vão (pt), vazio (pt), fútil (pt)
• Russian: глу́пый (ru) (glúpyj), пусто́й (ru) (pustój), бессмы́сленный (ru) (bessmýslennyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: faoin
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бесмислен

  Roman: besmislen (sh)

• Swedish: intetsägande (sv), andefattig (sv)

purposeless; pointless

• Bulgarian: безцелен (bg) (bezcelen)
• Dutch: doelloos (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: бесце́льный (ru) (bescélʹnyj), бессмы́сленный (ru) (bessmýslennyj)

Noun

inane (plural inanes)

1. That which is void or empty.
   • (Can we date this quote by Locke and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The undistinguishable inane of infinite space.

   • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

     [...] 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

• -anine, Annie, nenia

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin inānis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iˈna.ne/, [iˈn̺äːn̺e̞]
• Hyphenation: i‧nà‧ne

Adjective

(literary)

1. (rare) empty, void, hollow

   Synonyms: (literary) vacuo, vuoto

   Antonyms: colmo, pieno

2. useless, vain, inane

   Synonyms: inconcludente, infruttuoso, inutile, (literary) irrito, vano

   Antonym: utile

Derived terms

• inanità

Anagrams

• nenia

References

• inane in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) ināne

1. nominative neuter singular of inānis
2. accusative neuter singular of inānis
3. vocative neuter singular of inānis

References

• “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
    

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin inānis.

Adjective

1. inane (lacking sense or meaning)

   Synonyms: vão, vazio, fútil

Related terms

• inanição

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin inānis.

Adjective

inane m or f (masculine and feminine plural inanes)

1. inane; pointless