- futile or empty of meaning
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
mean•ing•less
(mē′ning lis),USA pronunciation adj.
mean′ing•less•ly, adv.
mean′ing•less•ness, n.
- without meaning, significance, purpose, or value;
purposeless;
insignificant:a meaningless reply; a meaningless existence.
- meaning + -less 1790–1800
mean′ing•less•ness, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
meaningless /ˈmiːnɪŋlɪs/ adj
mean•ing /ˈminɪŋ/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- what is intended to be or is expressed: [countable]Most meanings of a word are given in the dictionary.[uncountable]Did you understand the meaning of that play?
- the end, purpose, or significance of something:[uncountable]His life no longer had meaning after his children died.
mean•ing
(mē′ning),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
mean′ing•ly, adv.
mean′ing•ness, n.
- what is intended to be, or actually is, expressed or indicated;
signification;
import:the three meanings of a word. - the end, purpose, or significance of something:What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of this intrusion?
- Linguistics
- the nonlinguistic cultural correlate, reference, or denotation of a linguistic form;
expression. - linguistic content (opposed to expression).
- the nonlinguistic cultural correlate, reference, or denotation of a linguistic form;
adj.
- intentioned (usually used in combination):She's a well-meaning person.
- full of significance;
expressive:a meaning look.
- 1250–1300; Middle English (noun, nominal); see mean1, -ing1, -ing2
mean′ing•ness, n.
- 1. tenor, gist, drift, trend. Meaning, purport, sense, significance denote that which is expressed or indicated by something. Meaning is the general word denoting that which is intended to be or actually is expressed or indicated:the meaning of a word or glance.Sense may be used to denote a particular meaning (among others) of a word or phrase:The word is frequently used in this sense.Sense may also be used loosely to refer to intelligible meaning:There's no sense in what he says.Significance refers particularly to a meaning that is implied rather than expressed:the significance of her glance;
or to a meaning the importance of which may not be easy to perceive immediately:The real significance of his words was not grasped at the time.Purport is mainly limited to the meaning of a formal document, speech, important conversation, etc., and refers to the gist of something fairly complicated:the purport of your letter to the editor.
'meaningless' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
beau geste
- bosh
- cant
- chunter
- corrupt
- existentialism
- fiddlestick
- flummery
- ground
- insignificant
- logical positivism
- loo
- metaphysical
- mumbo jumbo
- scribble
- stereotypy
- theatre of the absurd
- verbiage
- virelay
- abracadabra
- absurd
- absurdism
- alfisol
- amphigory
- antiart
- babble
- babbling
- blah-blah-blah
- busyness
- cacophony
- ceremony
- chaos
- counterword
- derry
- drivel
- empty
- entisol
- fa-la
- formal
- gabble
- garbage
- gibberish
- gusty
- hocus-pocus
- hogwash
- hollow
- idle
- Jabberwocky
- jargon
- jive