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Wiktionary

inane

English

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WOTD – 23 January 2010

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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inane (comparative inaner or more inane, superlative inanest or most inane)

  1. Lacking sense or meaning, often to the point of boredom or annoyance.
    • 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.
    (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.
    • 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:
      Vague and inane instincts.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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inane (plural inanes)

  1. That which is void or empty.

Anagrams

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Italian

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Etymology

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From Latin inānis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /iˈna.ne/
  • Rhymes: -ane
  • Hyphenation: i‧nà‧ne

Adjective

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inane (plural inani) (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

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Further reading

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

Anagrams

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Latin

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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ināne

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of inānis

Noun

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ināne n (genitive inānis); third declension

  1. empty space, void, open space
  2. emptiness, vanity, inanity

Declension

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Third-declension noun (neuter, “pure” i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative ināne inānia
Genitive inānis inānium
Dative inānī inānibus
Accusative ināne inānia
Ablative inānī inānibus
Vocative ināne inānia

References

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  • “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

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin inānis.

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: i‧na‧ne

Adjective

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inane m or f (plural inanes)

  1. inane (lacking sense or meaning)
    Synonyms: vão, vazio, fútil
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Spanish

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Etymology

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From Latin inānis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /iˈnane/ [iˈna.ne]
  • Rhymes: -ane
  • Syllabification: i‧na‧ne

Adjective

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inane m or f (masculine and feminine plural inanes)

  1. inane; pointless
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Further reading

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