fatuous

adjective

fat·​u·​ous ˈfa-chü-əs 

-tyü-

: complacently or inanely foolish : silly

a fatuous remark

a fatuous socialite with a near-pathological love of parties and shopping

—Janet Maslin

fatuously adverb

fatuousness noun

Did you know?

"I am two fools, I know, / For loving, and for saying so / In whining Poetry," wrote John Donne, simultaneously confessing to both infatuation and fatuousness. As any love-struck fool can attest, infatuation can make buffoons of the best of us, and so it is reasonable that the words fatuous and infatuation share the same Latin root, fatuus, meaning "foolish." Both terms have been part of English since the 17th century, though infatuation followed the earlier verb infatuate, a fatuus descendant that once meant "to make foolish" but that now usually means "to inspire with a foolish love or admiration."

Did you know?

What is the origin of infatuated?

When we speak of someone being infatuated it very often is in relationship to that person having seemingly taken leave of his or her senses, especially in a romantic context (“he was so infatuated that he could not remember what day of the week it was”). This is fitting, as the word shares an origin with the word fatuous, which means complacently or inanely foolish. Both words come from the Latin fatuus (“foolish”), although fatuous is not often used in the romantic contexts in which we find infatuate. When used with a preposition infatuated is typically followed by with.

Synonyms

• airheaded
• birdbrained
• bonehead
• boneheaded
• brain-dead
• brainless
• bubbleheaded
• chuckleheaded
• dense
• dim
• dim-witted
• doltish
• dopey
• dopy
• dorky [slang]
• dull
• dumb
• dunderheaded
• empty-headed
• gormless [chiefly British]
• half-witted
• knuckleheaded
• lamebrain
• lamebrained
• lunkheaded
• mindless
• oafish
• obtuse
• opaque
• pinheaded
• senseless
• simple
• slow
• slow-witted
• soft
• softheaded
• stupid
• thick
• thick-witted
• thickheaded
• unintelligent
• unsmart
• vacuous
• weak-minded
• witless

Choose the Right Synonym for fatuous

simple, foolish, silly, fatuous, asinine mean actually or apparently deficient in intelligence.

simple implies a degree of intelligence inadequate to cope with anything complex or involving mental effort.

considered people simple who had trouble with computers

foolish implies the character of being or seeming unable to use judgment, discretion, or good sense.

foolish stunts

silly suggests failure to act as a rational being especially by ridiculous behavior.

the silly antics of revelers

fatuous implies foolishness, inanity, and disregard of reality.

fatuous conspiracy theories

asinine suggests utter and contemptible failure to use normal rationality or perception.

an asinine plot

Examples of fatuous in a Sentence

the fatuous questions that the audience members asked after the lecture suggested to the oceanographer that they had understood little

ignoring the avalanche warnings, the fatuous skiers continued on their way down the trail

Recent Examples on the Web

So although these actions may seem fatuous on the surface, the next four years will be about looking for the undercurrents. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025

Second, this rationale for regulation proved to be illogical and fatuous as conceded by U.S. Courts and the Federal Communications Commission in the decades since. —Carine Harb, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025

This fatuous facial gesture is immediately relatable but also, as Locke discusses below, one that can be read in a number of different ways. —Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024

Schools must accept that mission statements without curriculum alignment are fatuous; the way schools define themselves is through the experience that flows from their curriculum. —Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin fatuus foolish

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

fatuous

adjective

fat·​u·​ous ˈfach-(ə-)wəs 

: foolish, silly

fatuously adverb