insignificance

noun

in·​sig·​nif·​i·​cance ˌin(t)-sig-ˈni-fi-kən(t)s How to pronounce insignificance (audio)
: the quality or state of being insignificant

Examples of insignificance in a Sentence

a tabloid newspaper devoted to people and events of astonishing insignificance
Recent Examples on the Web The significant insignificance of language has long been a preoccupation of his fiction, which plumbs the failures of storytelling to capture (or enhance) the experience of life. Maya Binyam, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Today, American policy-makers must choose with respect to AI: freedom or technocracy, prosperity or economic insignificance. David McGarry, National Review, 11 Jan. 2024 In both movies, painful memories become wondrous hallucinations, a tower becomes a portal between worlds, and questions of reality versus fantasy, or old versus young, blur into insignificance. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2023 To act at all today—in relation to communities, in relation to the climate—requires an embrace of one’s own insignificance in the larger scheme of things. Jasmine Liu, The New Republic, 24 Oct. 2023 Few who witness it ever forget the feeling of sublimity caused by the perception of their own insignificance when set against the spectacular backdrop of the incomprehensible vastness of Donald Trump’s crimes. Nathaniel Stein, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2023 But there lies the rub, because Big Business lobbies have done everything in their power to challenge the OSHA process and ensure that whatever standard finally emerges will be shot through with loopholes and diluted into insignificance. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2023 The solution, the filmmaker argues, is a spiritual communion with the unknown, because there’s healing in surrendering to one’s perfect insignificance as part of something bigger. Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2023 The show’s decision to end the series with someone who is not a Roy in name or blood as the CEO of the life-consuming corportate firm at the center of its drama is indicative of its insignificance. Carrie Wittmer, Men's Health, 29 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'insignificance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1699, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of insignificance was in 1699

Dictionary Entries Near insignificance

Cite this Entry

“Insignificance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insignificance. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

insignificance

noun
in·​sig·​nif·​i·​cance ˌin(t)-sig-ˈnif-i-kən(t)s How to pronounce insignificance (audio)
: the quality or state of being insignificant

More from Merriam-Webster on insignificance

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