- insipid
- 1610s, "without taste or perceptible flavor," from Fr. insipide, from L.L. inspidus "tasteless," from L. in- "not" + sapidus "tasty," from sapere "have a taste" (also "be wise"). Fig. meaning "uninteresting, dull" first recorded 1640s, but it was also a secondary sense in M.L.
"In ye coach ... went Mrs. Barlow, the King's mistress and mother to ye Duke of Monmouth, a browne, beautifull, bold, but insipid creature." [John Evelyn, diary, Aug. 18, 1649]