Standard Lemma guide

inane

adj · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈneɪn/
  • Australian: /ɪˈnæɪn/
  • Queensland Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪn
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N EY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Lacking sense or meaning, often to the point of boredom or annoyance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: silly, fatuous, vapid

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Purposeless; pointless.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

That which is void or empty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

devoid of intelligence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: asinine, fatuous, mindless, vacuous

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin inānis (“empty, vain, useless”), of unknown origin.

Across languages

Translations

74 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: mənasız — lacking sense or meaning
  • Azerbaijani: məzmunsuz — lacking sense or meaning
  • Azerbaijani: boş — lacking sense or meaning
  • Bulgarian: глупав (glupav) — lacking sense or meaning
  • Bulgarian: безсмислен (bezsmislen) — lacking sense or meaning
  • Catalan: va — lacking sense or meaning
  • Catalan: vacu — lacking sense or meaning
  • Czech: hloupý — lacking sense or meaning
  • Czech: stupidní — lacking sense or meaning
  • Czech: nejapný — lacking sense or meaning
  • Danish: intetsigende — lacking sense or meaning
  • Danish: åndsforladt — lacking sense or meaning
  • Dutch: zinloos — lacking sense or meaning
  • Dutch: inhoudsloos — lacking sense or meaning
  • Dutch: stom — lacking sense or meaning
  • Dutch: flauw — lacking sense or meaning
  • Finnish: tyhjä — lacking sense or meaning
  • Finnish: merkityksetön — lacking sense or meaning
  • Finnish: typerä — lacking sense or meaning
  • French: inepte — lacking sense or meaning
  • French: insensé — lacking sense or meaning
  • French: niais — lacking sense or meaning
  • French: inane — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: sinnlos — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: albern — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: bedeutungslos — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: sinnfrei — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: inhaltsleer — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: hohl — lacking sense or meaning
  • German: belanglos — lacking sense or meaning
  • Māori: heahea — lacking sense or meaning
  • Norwegian: intetsigende — lacking sense or meaning
  • Polish: bezmyślny — lacking sense or meaning
  • Polish: głupi — lacking sense or meaning
  • Polish: beztreściowy — lacking sense or meaning
  • Polish: beztreściwy — lacking sense or meaning
  • Portuguese: inane — lacking sense or meaning
  • Portuguese: vão — lacking sense or meaning
  • Portuguese: vazio — lacking sense or meaning
  • Portuguese: fútil — lacking sense or meaning
  • Romanian: fără sens — lacking sense or meaning
  • Romanian: stupid — lacking sense or meaning
  • Romanian: inept — lacking sense or meaning
  • Russian: глу́пый (glúpyj) — lacking sense or meaning
  • Russian: пусто́й (pustój) — lacking sense or meaning
  • Russian: бессмы́сленный (bessmýslennyj) — lacking sense or meaning
  • Scottish Gaelic: faoin — lacking sense or meaning
  • Serbo-Croatian: бесмислен — lacking sense or meaning
  • Serbo-Croatian: besmislen — lacking sense or meaning
  • Spanish: inane — lacking sense or meaning
  • Swedish: intetsägande — lacking sense or meaning
  • Swedish: andefattig — lacking sense or meaning
  • Azerbaijani: məqsədsiz — purposeless; pointless
  • Bulgarian: безцелен (bezcelen) — purposeless; pointless
  • Catalan: vacu — purposeless; pointless
  • Czech: bezúčelný — purposeless; pointless
  • Czech: zbytečný — purposeless; pointless
  • Czech: marný — purposeless; pointless
  • Czech: prázdný — purposeless; pointless
  • Dutch: doelloos — purposeless; pointless
  • French: inane — purposeless; pointless
  • French: inutile — purposeless; pointless
  • French: vain — purposeless; pointless
  • Galician: inane — purposeless; pointless
  • German: vergeblich — purposeless; pointless
  • German: zwecklos — purposeless; pointless
  • Italian: inane — purposeless; pointless
  • Polish: bezsensowny — purposeless; pointless
  • Polish: bezcelowy — purposeless; pointless
  • Portuguese: inane — purposeless; pointless
  • Romanian: inutil — purposeless; pointless
  • Russian: бесце́льный (bescélʹnyj) — purposeless; pointless
  • Russian: бессмы́сленный (bessmýslennyj) — purposeless; pointless
  • Spanish: inane — purposeless; pointless