SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
inane
adjective
Lacking sense, significance, or substance.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Without sense or substance
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topInane often criticizes speech or ideas as empty; fatuous can add smug self-satisfaction.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See inane in use
The inane slogan said little about what the service actually did.
An inane suggestion that the shortage of racks would disappear if everyone simply stopped counting bicycles offered the campaign no useful idea.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license