witless

[ wit-lis ]

adjective

1. lacking wit or intelligence; stupid; foolish.

witless

/ ˈwɪtlɪs /

adjective

1. lacking wit, intelligence, or sense; stupid

Derived Forms

• ˈwitlessly, adverb
• ˈwitlessness, noun

Other Words From

• witless·ly adverb
• witless·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of witless¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English witlēas. See wit ¹, -less

Example Sentences

I’m not talking about crazy uncles who ruin your Thanksgiving dinner; they’ve been crude and witless since the time you were a little kid who avoided them.

From Salon

His denouement arrives when he accidentally tells his audience over a hot mic that they’re a bunch of witless, contemptible rubes; they turn on him and his popularity evaporates.

From Salon

Reactionary centrism and false balance have created their own fantasyland: Rather than preserving and building on what’s best in our civic tradition, as their practitioners imagine, they’ve become witless handmaids in its ongoing destruction.

From Salon

She may have run around in tight shirts and booty shorts, but the implication was always that she was tied down young and molded into her husband's witless helpmeet.

From Salon

What’s most troubling about this witless mishmash of whiny, infantile philosophizing and bone-crunching violence is the increasing realization that it actually thinks it’s saying something of significance.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dumb
• half-baked
• kooky
• moronic
• wacky
• zany