meaninglessness

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˈminɪŋləsnəs/ UK /ˈmiːnɪŋləsnəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the state of lacking purpose, significance, or sense

The play dwells on the apparent meaninglessness of modern life.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of lacking... pointlessness futility senselessness purposelessness absurdity emptiness

Opposites

meaningfulnesspurpose significance

Word family

Related forms meaningless meaning mean meaningful

Etymology

From meaningless (from meaning, the gerund of mean 'to intend, signify', from Old English mǣnan, plus the privative -less) with the noun suffix -ness. The state of lacking purpose or significance.

mǣnan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# meaninglessness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈminɪŋləsnəs
**IPA (UK):** ˈmiːnɪŋləsnəs

## Meanings
1. the state of lacking purpose, significance, or sense

## Examples
- The play dwells on the apparent meaninglessness of modern life.

## Synonyms
- pointlessness
- futility
- senselessness
- purposelessness
- absurdity
- emptiness

## Antonyms
- meaningfulness
- purpose
- significance

## Related Forms
- meaningless
- meaning
- mean
- meaningful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: mǣnan

## Etymology
From meaningless (from meaning, the gerund of mean 'to intend, signify', from Old English mǣnan, plus the privative -less) with the noun suffix -ness. The state of lacking purpose or significance.

## AI Etymology
Meaninglessness comes from meaningless (from meaning, the gerund of mean 'to intend, signify', from Old English mǣnan, plus the privative -less) with the noun suffix -ness. The state of lacking purpose or significance. The etymological trail includes Old English mǣnan. The same word family includes meaningless, meaning, mean, meaningful. Its current noun use means "the state of lacking purpose, significance, or sense".

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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