Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Devoid of meaning or sense; meaningless.
- adjective Lacking intelligence or liveliness of expression; vacant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having no meaning or signification: as, unmeaning words.
- Not having or not indicating intelligence or sense; mindless; senseless; expressionless.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having no meaning or signification.
- adjective Not indicating intelligence or sense; senseless; expressionless.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective dated Having no
meaning orsignificance
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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She looked wildly on me, and then suddenly calming herself, apologized for what she called her unmeaning words, saying that she must indeed be insane, for, while Raymond lived, she must be happy; and then, though she still wept, she suffered me tranquilly to depart.
The Last Man 2003
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She looked wildly on me, and then suddenly calming herself, apologized for what she called her unmeaning words, saying that she must indeed be insane, for, while Raymond lived, she must be happy; and then, though she still wept, she suffered me tranquilly to depart.
The Last Man 1826
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She looked wildly on me, and then suddenly calming herself, apologized for what she called her unmeaning words, saying that she must indeed be insane, for, while Raymond lived, she must be happy; and then, though she still wept, she suffered me tranquilly to depart.
The Last Man Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 1824
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She looked wildly on me, and then suddenly calming herself, apologized for what she called her unmeaning words, saying that she must indeed be insane, for, while Raymond lived, she must be happy; and then, though she still wept, she suffered me tranquilly to depart.
I.6 1826
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Here 'unmeaning' does not signify that we are saying anything about the value of such entities, but it gives expression to an ontological characteristic.
Archive 2007-03-01 enowning 2007
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Page purely as a kind of unmeaning noise it filled you with astonishment at first.
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Combined with the bellowing intonation it made the language of one's childhood sound weirdly startling, and even if considered purely as a kind of unmeaning noise it filled you with astonishment at first.
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Combined with the bellowing intonation it made the language of one's childhood sound weirdly startling, and even if considered purely as a kind of unmeaning noise it filled you with astonishment at first.
Falk Joseph Conrad 1890
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Believe me, Emily, these kind of unmeaning sacrifices are childish; your heart is new to love, and you have all the romance of a girl: Rivers would, on your account, be hurt to hear you had refused to dance in his absence, though he might be flattered to know you had for a moment entertained such an idea.
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Believe me, Emily, these kind of unmeaning sacrifices are childish; your heart is new to love, and you have all the romance of a girl:
The History of Emily Montague Frances Brooke 1756
bilby commented on the word unmeaning
"Their hands met, and he thought he heard her say: “Yes, we’re sailing tomorrow in the Russia—�?; then there was an unmeaning noise of opening doors, and after an interval May’s voice: 'Newland! Dinner’s been announced. Won’t you please take Ellen in?'"
- Edith Wharton, 'The Age of Innocence'.
September 20, 2009