inane

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

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈneɪn/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪn

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.

inane (plural inanes)

1. 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.

   • 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.

• -anine, Annie, nenia

From Latin inānis.

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

inane m or f (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

• inanità

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

• Ienna, nenia

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪˈnaː.nɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [iˈnaː.ne]

ināne

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of inānis

ināne n (genitive inānis); third declension

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

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

• “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
    

Borrowed from Latin inānis.

• Hyphenation: i‧na‧ne

inane m or f (plural inanes)

1. inane (lacking sense or meaning)

   Synonyms: vão, vazio, fútil

• inanição

From Latin inānis.

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

inane m or f (masculine and feminine plural inanes)

1. inane; pointless

• “inane”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024