1
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
a teacher who affirms that there are no brainless students, only lazy ones
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
a brainless decision to talk on her cell phone while weaving in and out of traffic
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of brainless
There's really no way to prep for the show — basically, just don't be brainless.
—
Lindsay Soll, EW.com, 25 July 2025
The O’Haras happen to move in next door to him.
Frothy and often filthy without being brainless (send thanks across the Atlantic for that good British dialogue), this is escapism done right.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
So, what can the neuronal activity of a tiny, brainless creature possibly tell us about the evolution of our own complex brains?
—Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 15 June 2024
An oyster, immobile and nearly brainless, is hardly even an animal, despite what the taxonomists tell us.
—Peter Rubin, Longreads, 9 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for brainless
Lindsay Soll, EW.com, 25 July 2025
The O’Haras happen to move in next door to him.
Frothy and often filthy without being brainless (send thanks across the Atlantic for that good British dialogue), this is escapism done right.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
So, what can the neuronal activity of a tiny, brainless creature possibly tell us about the evolution of our own complex brains?
—Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 15 June 2024
An oyster, immobile and nearly brainless, is hardly even an animal, despite what the taxonomists tell us.
—Peter Rubin, Longreads, 9 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for brainless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brainless
Adjective
-
These apps often default to a faster, dumber model.—
Matt Shumer,
Fortune,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Who, other than dumb people like me, are gonna recruit high school kids?—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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
-
That builds on similar trends throughout 2025, when the industry buoyed an otherwise slow labor market, as the nation’s hospitals, clinics and nursing homes kept hiring even as many employers pulled back.—
Abha Bhattarai,
Washington Post,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Any type of realism was [limited to] very short clips, everything was very slow, bad textures, no skin textures, lacking detail.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
14 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
-
Feltner’s routine was pretty simple.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
12 Feb. 2026
-
Crime 101 takes the same view of quid pro quo as the most basic form of American commerce and makes simple but brutal points about value and self-worth, where your car, its year, make and model, matters more than your resumé.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 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
-
Mathews vividly remembers riding in one of her father’s water trucks through thick smoke as black as the night to help family members and other ranchers save their homes.—
Michael Collins,
USA Today,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Now, a team of researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences has shown that even a bare carbon fiber, no thicker than a human hair, can bend and straighten on command, without any direct wiring.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
14 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
Cite this Entry
“Brainless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brainless. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
