as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
it was asinine to run into the street like that
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Recent Examples of asinine
All of that would have seemed asinine mere weeks ago.
—
Chad Graff, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Speaking of people getting into hot water for saying asinine things, don’t miss Sabrina Impacciatore’s brilliantly inappropriate portrayal of Esmeralda Grande in The Office spin-off/continuation The Paper, which premieres on Peacock on Thursday, September 4.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 1 Sep. 2025
Featured Presentations Final Destination: Bloodlines Family gatherings can already be a pain, but imagine that pain being asinine deaths that claim everyone one by one.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 17 May 2025
What's worse than luring Robert De Niro to Netflix for a boring, soulless and asinine political thriller?
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
Alonso may not be the priority at first base for the Bronx Bombers, but to say there is zero interest is asinine.
—Gord Magill, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024
Altman’s is a plainly asinine claim; a bunch of code running in a data center is not the same as a brain.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
Comedy videos about customer service and asinine Atlanta eatery rules were already popular on TikTok but have seen major pickup since Lee’s viral videos.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2023
Rogozin's claim that the only evidence Roscosmos could offer of the Moon landings was a book by Leonov is asinine.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
Chad Graff, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Speaking of people getting into hot water for saying asinine things, don’t miss Sabrina Impacciatore’s brilliantly inappropriate portrayal of Esmeralda Grande in The Office spin-off/continuation The Paper, which premieres on Peacock on Thursday, September 4.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 1 Sep. 2025
Featured Presentations Final Destination: Bloodlines Family gatherings can already be a pain, but imagine that pain being asinine deaths that claim everyone one by one.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 17 May 2025
What's worse than luring Robert De Niro to Netflix for a boring, soulless and asinine political thriller?
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
Alonso may not be the priority at first base for the Bronx Bombers, but to say there is zero interest is asinine.
—Gord Magill, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024
Altman’s is a plainly asinine claim; a bunch of code running in a data center is not the same as a brain.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
Comedy videos about customer service and asinine Atlanta eatery rules were already popular on TikTok but have seen major pickup since Lee’s viral videos.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2023
Rogozin's claim that the only evidence Roscosmos could offer of the Moon landings was a book by Leonov is asinine.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asinine
Adjective
-
But maybe Johnson isn’t stupid.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Such as the one where the candidate remarked that some white rural Americans were stupid and racist.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Straight men, in particular, are only talked about, kept in the background, or appearing as authority figures trying to uphold absurd laws and traditions.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Pepsi’s chart is absurd and someone’s going to look stupid when the momentum fades.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Don’t feel silly asking at the ski shop.—
Moira McCarthy,
Boston Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Walker offers this diagnosis himself, leeringly dismissing Pearl as a silly mommy, awash with hormones, mildly and minorly hysterical.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Counting on one of the league’s most expensive talents to play meaningful minutes from here on out at his age with a track record like that is nearly as foolish as Nico trading a perennial MVP candidate at 26.—
Kevin Sherrington
Feb. 4,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The lesson isn’t that NBA teams are reckless or foolish.—
Spencer Harrison,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Last week, the wind-power green scam artists were back in federal court, arguing to be permitted to keep squandering billions more on those insane offshore windmills that produce next to no energy, but plenty of pollution.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
1 Feb. 2026
-
That’s the best reaction to these stupid, insane men ruling the world now and trying to grab and dominate the world.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The craziest thing is that the Seahawks didn’t even do it with that much effort from a play-call perspective.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Even his father Roman Skornikov — an Olympian for Uzbekistan who coaches his son with his wife, Tatiana Malinina — thought the idea of doing four-and-a-half revolutions in one jump was crazy.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Anything else would be idiotic.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
13 Jan. 2026
-
To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
Gwen Faulkenberry,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The Department of Homeland Security is slinging money around like mad.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Bugatti is marking the 20th birthday of its extraordinary Veyron with a special-edition hypercar that pays tribute to the 'mad genius' who designed it, Ferdinand Karl Piëch.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Asinine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asinine. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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