Inanis

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by a lack of meaning or value, often resulting in emptiness or superficiality
2. indicative of an absence of importance or substance, leading to vacuousness in thought or action
3. describing something that lacks depth or significance, rendering it trivial or pointless

Etymology: "Inanis" is a Latin adjective meaning empty, void, or hollow, and it is the source of English "inane." Its roots are older than Latin itself: it is generally traced to an Indo-European base sometimes reconstructed as *is-, meaning something like "empty" or "without substance," though the Latin word's exact internal structure is not settled. Latin speakers used it for literal emptiness, such as a hollow container, as well as for figurative emptiness in speech or thought. English took the word through French in the 1600s, when "inane" arrived with the sense "empty, void." Its meaning then narrowed from physical emptiness toward a lack of sense, so that a remark could be called inane for being empty-headed or pointless. That shift from "containing nothing" to "containing nothing worth hearing" is the path the English word follows.

Synonyms: empty, void, hollow, vacant, meaningless

Antonyms: full, meaningful, substantial, significant, filled