meaningless

adjective

mean·​ing·​less ˈmē-niŋ-ləs How to pronounce meaningless (audio)
1
: having no meaning
especially : lacking any significance
2
: having no assigned function in a language system
meaninglessly adverb
meaninglessness noun

Examples of meaningless in a Sentence

He felt that his work was meaningless. The movie was filled with meaningless violence.
Recent Examples on the Web Are presidential debates a civil service that showcase a candidate’s policy or just meaningless spectacle? Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024 Instead of passing a meaningless attempt to appease Abbott, these communities should have crafted actual policies to help immigrants and refugees. The Denver Post Editorial Board, The Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2024 If every sentence ends with an exclamation point, then the punctuation is meaningless. Todd Nordstrom, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 LeBron James sat Thursday night and watched his team get beat by the Warriors, a team that the Lakers are competing against for play-in position, after LeBron played 14 minutes in a meaningless All-Star exhibition game? Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2024 Of course, all of this promotion is meaningless if no one is watching or paying. Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024 There is always an excess that is meaningless to the computing architecture at some point. Karl Schroeder, IEEE Spectrum, 24 Feb. 2024 But with the death toll still rising in Gaza, many veteran activists say this push is meaningless while the U.S. continues to fund and arm Israel, while shielding it from international censure over its military campaign, in which more than 27,000 people have been killed. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, 6 Feb. 2024 Three of San Francisco's four losses before the meaningless finale came against AFC North opponents. Elizabeth Flores, USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meaningless.' 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

1796, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of meaningless was in 1796

Dictionary Entries Near meaningless

Cite this Entry

“Meaningless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meaningless. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

meaningless

adjective
mean·​ing·​less ˈmē-niŋ-ləs How to pronounce meaningless (audio)
1
: having no meaning or significance
meaningless chatter
2
: lacking motive
a meaningless murder
meaninglessly adverb
meaninglessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on meaningless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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