adjective

• 1Having no meaning or significance.

  ‘the paragraph was a jumble of meaningless words’

  More example sentences

  • ‘From his own mouth the words are meaningless, and so he pulls up a chair.’
  • ‘Despite Sheehan's passion for words, he understands that words by themselves are meaningless.’
  • ‘After alteration, formerly understandable Swedish words become meaningless.’
  • ‘He was murmuring sweet meaningless words in my ears.’
  • ‘Tired faces turned, waiting for the thread of babble and meaningless words they would only pretend to hear.’
  • ‘She paused as she glimpsed the shock in my expression that she was speaking more than a handful of meaningless words.’
  • ‘She shook her head vigorously, trying to get his meaningless words out of her head and ears, and shoved him away.’
  • ‘Lisa, the secretary, offered her deepest sympathies but the words were meaningless.’
  • ‘Words became meaningless, and a fountain of primal silence washed over the crowd of young people.’
  • ‘During his latest round of meaningless words their faces had drifted closer.’
  • ‘She focused on her laptop, tapping keys but she was typing meaningless words.’
  • ‘He would see right through my choice of large meaningless words, but I didn't care.’
  • ‘He had stopped talking when he realized his words were turning into meaningless mumbling.’
  • ‘Some rather meaningless words were exchanged, but they soon ran out of things to say.’
  • ‘Then they were shown a series of words either neutral, meaningless or related to aggression.’
  • ‘Avoid useless and meaningless words, and certain phrases that will place you in the penalty box.’
  • ‘They asked if I was going to the office, and I replied with some meaningless nonsense.’
  • ‘But as you get older you rely on words, and as you get wiser those words become longer and more meaningless.’
  • ‘Any other construction of the words or order in section 3 would render them meaningless.’
  • ‘Don't say too much; avoid meaningless jargon; don't fiddle with your hair on camera.’

  Synonyms

  unintelligible, incomprehensible, incoherent, illogical, senseless, unmeaning, foolish, silly, absurd, fatuous, ridiculous, nonsensical, idle

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1Having no purpose or reason.
     ‘rules are meaningless to a child if they do not have a rationale’
     More example sentences

     • ‘the Great War was an outstanding example of meaningless conflict’
     • ‘Somehow the weekly ceremony had seemed hollow and meaningless to her.’
     • ‘It is not meaningless to speak of a French decline since the mid-1970s.’
     • ‘It's also meaningless to go shopping, if you judge your life this way.’
     • ‘So, it's meaningless to say that the rest of the album doesn't quite measure up.’
     • ‘Right and wrong are meaningless to him, all that matter are sensation and experience.’
     • ‘Why should I want to get my voice back when life itself was already meaningless to me?’
     • ‘As Evan says the price increase is meaningless to all, but those wishing to move.’
     • ‘Corina often found her job meaningless without a Master in the manor, but her loyalty to the Warrick descendant never wavered.’
     • ‘Still, trying to fulfil them always seemed so pointless and meaningless.’
     • ‘They would talk, but about pointless, and meaningless things, but only if they could spare you the time of day.’
     • ‘It was just a useless coach trip to follow a meaningless tradition.’
     • ‘It was just a husk, an empty shell, worth nothing, containing nothing, meaningless.’
     • ‘Your life was meaningless, nothing significant would ever happen to you.’
     • ‘Of course we also feared that such thoughts were nonsense and Doug's death was a meaningless accident.’
     • ‘No thinking adult wastes time in idle pursuits that are difficult and meaningless.’
     • ‘Now we are seeing all that hard work buried under meaningless work.’
     • ‘It was as if they had received notice that their lives had been meaningless.’
     • ‘While we wait with bated breath, the meaningless one day jamboree rambles on.’
     • ‘People were specks far below, crawling about their meaningless, methodical lives like insects.’
     • ‘Miel related the meaningless events of her day in the city to Lucas and waited patiently for him to tell her about the experiment.’
     Synonyms

     futile, pointless, aimless, empty, hollow, vain, purposeless, motiveless, valueless, useless, of no use, worthless, trivial, trifling, vacuous, unimportant, insignificant, inconsequential, insubstantial, nugatory, fruitless, profitless, barren, unproductive, unprofitable

     View synonyms