1
as in stupid
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
the fatuous questions that the audience members asked after the lecture suggested to the oceanographer that they had understood little
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
ignoring the avalanche warnings, the fatuous skiers continued on their way down the trail
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fatuous
So although these actions may seem fatuous on the surface, the next four years will be about looking for the undercurrents.
—
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025
Second, this rationale for regulation proved to be illogical and fatuous as conceded by U.S. Courts and the Federal Communications Commission in the decades since.
—Carine Harb, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025
This fatuous facial gesture is immediately relatable but also, as Locke discusses below, one that can be read in a number of different ways.
—Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Schools must accept that mission statements without curriculum alignment are fatuous; the way schools define themselves is through the experience that flows from their curriculum.
—Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fatuous
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025
Second, this rationale for regulation proved to be illogical and fatuous as conceded by U.S. Courts and the Federal Communications Commission in the decades since.
—Carine Harb, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025
This fatuous facial gesture is immediately relatable but also, as Locke discusses below, one that can be read in a number of different ways.
—Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Schools must accept that mission statements without curriculum alignment are fatuous; the way schools define themselves is through the experience that flows from their curriculum.
—Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fatuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fatuous
Adjective
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But maybe Johnson isn’t stupid.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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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
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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
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The lesson isn’t that NBA teams are reckless or foolish.—
Spencer Harrison,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And then quite a bit of dumb bits, like really dumb bits.—
Eric Ducker,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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The multi-vehicle pile-up that ensues might go even dumber than a Rusko drop, yet there’s no escaping the anxiety that remains in the static hiss that closes the track.—
James Gui,
Pitchfork,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Don’t feel silly asking at the ski shop.—
Moira McCarthy,
Boston Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
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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
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Feltner’s routine was pretty simple.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
12 Feb. 2026
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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
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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
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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
“Fatuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fatuous. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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