clueless

adjective

clue·​less ˈklü-ləs 

1

: having or providing no clue

a clueless case for the police to solve

2

: completely or hopelessly bewildered, unaware, ignorant, or foolish

clueless about what they want

cluelessly adverb

I played dumb. I have arrived at a point in my life where I can perform this stunt with aplomb. "What do you mean?" I asked, as cluelessly as I knew how.

—Steve Friedman

cluelessness noun

Mowrey is also trying to make a deer hunter of Bentley, whose cluelessness as an outdoors-man is a rich source of amusement to his country-boy crony.

—Austin Murphy

Synonyms

• ignorant
• incognizant
• innocent
• insensible
• nescient
• oblivious
• unacquainted
• unaware
• unconscious
• uninformed
• unknowing
• unmindful
• unwitting

Examples of clueless in a Sentence

When it comes to computers, I'm clueless.

They were clueless about what to do.

Recent Examples on the Web

As Malcolm in the Middle’s hilariously dopey, clueless dad Hal, Cranston was a household name long before donning Heisenberg’s pork pie hat. —Matt Cabral, EW.com, 20 Jan. 2025

David goes for the highest risk and puts himself on Team Red Case, and so do Seychelle Cordero and Luke Olejniczak, a charming but clueless private chef from Wisconsin. —Laura Bradley, Vulture, 7 Jan. 2025

Of course, some of us have occasionally been that delightfully clueless person. —Jed Brewer, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2025

Emotionally clueless men are culturally ubiquitous. —Matthew Schnipper, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1743, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

clueless

adjective

clue·​less ˈklü-ləs 

: having or providing no clue