- inane
- "silly, empty-headed," 1819, earlier "empty" (1660s), a back-formation of inanity "emptiness, hollowness" (c.1600), later "silliness" (1753), from Fr. inanité, from L. inanitatem "emptiness," from inanis "empty, void, worthless, useless." Inanition is attested from c.1400.