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asinine

asinine

23 8.7
To be very foolish and show poor judgment
  • adjective
  • /ˈæsɪˌnaɪn/
  • Offensive
translation icon : estúpido
  • His asinine comments during the meeting made everyone roll their eyes in frustration.
  • asinine thing
  • asinine comment
  • asinine behavior

I said really one of the most asinine absurdities you can recall.

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Examples

  • It's like people spend money on the most asinine stuff in the world.

  • Such a belief is not only asinine, but also frightening and dangerous.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Oh boy this is so asinine but here we are.

  • It's just asinine that the laws are what they are these days.

  • Of all the asinine things my dad has done, this is by far the most asinine.

  • The difference is I try not to say or do asinine things on a daily basis.

    Blog text (4)
  • Honestly, Harry how in the world could you possible do such a stupid, asinine thing?

  • Well, you know, Fred puts up with his kids' asinine friends.

  • Why can't I get this asinine joke out of my head?

    Fiction book (2000)
  • As this was not so, we seem to have here a particularly asinine example of bureaucratic bungling.

    Blog text (3)

Synonyms

stupid
vsasinine
  • Offensive
1.0

Not intelligent and showing poor judgment

is more intense and stresses extreme silliness and lack of judgment
foolish
vsasinine
505 1.3

Not showing good sense and making unwise choices

is more extreme and stresses very poor judgment and utter silliness
idiotic
vsasinine
  • Offensive
115 4.4

Very silly and showing bad judgment

is extremely foolish but lacks the overt ridicule focus
inane
vsasinine
28 7.5

Very silly and having no real meaning

is equally foolish but focuses less on pointlessness
fatuous
vsasinine
  • Offensive
7 8.9

Silly and foolish while acting proud of oneself

is similar but more broadly foolish without self-satisfaction
imbecilic
vsasinine
  • Offensive
5 8.8

Very stupid or showing poor judgment

is extreme but the key is not limited to low intelligence
anserine
vsasinine
  • Offensive
9.9

Very foolish and showing little common sense

is the same idea but the key is stronger and more common

Antonyms

758 2.1

Showing good judgment from experience

201 2.7

Showing good judgment and making practical choices

How Foolish

stupid
  • Offensive
1.0
asinine
  • Offensive
23 8.7
foolish
505 1.3
unwise
40 3.5
silly
976 1.0

Surface Forms

asinine positive

Morphology

asinine = ass (semi-transparent) = asin + ine

The adjective's meaning ('like an ass') relates to the noun 'ass', but the form is borrowed and altered (asin- + -ine), so the relation is not fully obvious to average learners.

Etymology

The word asinine comes from the Latin asinus, which means 'donkey'. People long ago thought donkeys were not clever, so asinine now means 'very foolish' or 'stupid'.