Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Foolish or silly, especially in a smug or self-satisfied way: "'Don't you like the poor lonely bachelor?' he yammered in a fatuous way” ( Sinclair Lewis). See Synonyms at foolish.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Foolish; foolishly conceited; feebly or stupidly self-sufficient; unconsciously silly: applied both to persons and to their acts.
- Idiotic; demented; imbecile.
- Unreal; illusory, like the ignis fatuus.
Wiktionary
- adj. Obnoxiously stupid, vacantly silly, content in one's foolishness.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Feeble in mind; weak; silly; stupid; foolish; fatuitous.
- adj. Without reality; illusory, like the
ignis fatuus .
WordNet 3.0
- adj. devoid of intelligence
Etymologies
- From Latin fatuus.
Examples
“I'm surprised that when I looked up the word fatuous in the dictionary, your name and picture weren't next to it.”
“Polysemaniacs cannot read or hear the word fatuous without conjuring up some image or other of fatness, possibly a paunchy wise-guy at a party.”
“Gore has that most annoying of characteristics of those on the Left, namely a fatuous belief that they are motivated by selfless regard for the planet, while everyone in business is motivated by a complete disregard for what is environmentally responsible.”
“Her answers to other question can only be described as fatuous, making the viewer want to replace her with a Barbie doll in order to obtain a higher intellectual bandwidth.”
“Jay was so upset by the network\'s inability to commit to his contract that he disappeared from the show\'s holiday party early, while the likes of \ "Mr. Anecdote, \" Fred De Cordova, was on stage performing some kind of fatuous satire with other members of the NBC brass.”
“Jay was so upset by the network's inability to commit to his contract that he disappeared from the show's holiday party early, while the likes of "Mr. Anecdote," Fred De Cordova, was on stage performing some kind of fatuous satire with other members of the NBC brass.”
“It is the kind of fatuous dreck we are used to hearing.”
Giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, Tony Blair said: “I...
“Or is all this just another "fatuous" observation, by your lights?”
“The Democratic Alliance has dismissed as "fatuous" a correctional services department denial of preferential treatment for certain prisoners.”
“The Democratic Alliance dismissed the adverts as "fatuous".”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘fatuous’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Unknown
coalition, cabinet, tweet, defuse, steep, ancestral, mindset, breach, infraction, egregious, curb, backbite and 280 more...
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SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
roseandivy Everytime I think of this word, I see a pompous little man, wider than he is tall, in a stovepipe hat and coattails, and a dour, dour frown. Mar 19, 2008
abiohphobia Pronunciation:
\ˈfa-chü-əs, -tyü-\
Etymology:
Latin fatuus foolish
adj. complacently or inanely foolish Oct 24, 2007
abiohphobia "Everyone knows the fatuous verdict of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who, asked for an actual example of when it would be proper to limit speech or defy it as an action, gave the example of shouting fire in a crowded theater." -Christopher Hitchens Oct 24, 2007