inanity

English

Etymology

From French inanité, from Latin inanitas, equivalent to inane +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭ-năn′-ĭt-ē, IPA^(key): /ɪˈnænɪti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: i‧nan‧i‧ty

Noun

inanity (countable and uncountable, plural inanities)

1. (uncountable) The property of being inane, of lacking material of interest or satisfaction, emptiness.
2. Something that is inane.

   Working in any bureaucracy means being bedeviled by inanities daily.

   • 1895, Kenneth Graham, The Golden Age, London, page 5:

     It was incessant matter for amazement how these Olympians would talk over our heads - during meals, for instance - of this or the other social or political inanity, under the delusion that these pale phantasms of reality were among the importances of life.

Translations

property of being inane

• Dutch: inhoudsloosheid f, stupiditeit (nl) f, leegheid (nl) f, zinloosheid (nl) f
• French: inanité (fr) f
• Galician: inanidade (gl) f
• German: Inanität (de) f, Belanglosigkeit (de) f, Sinnfreiheit f
• Portuguese: inanidade (pt) f
• Russian: бессмы́сленность (ru) f (bessmýslennostʹ)
• Spanish: inanidad (es) f

something that is inane

• German: Belanglosigkeit (de) f