Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Utterly stupid or silly.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or resembling an ass.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Belonging to or characteristic of the ass.
  • Having the qualities attributed to the ass; stupid; obstinate; obtrusively silly; offensively awkward.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or belonging to, or having the qualities of, the ass, as stupidity and obstinacy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Failing to exercise intelligence or judgment; ridiculously below average rationality.
  • adjective Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of donkeys.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective devoid of intelligence

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin asinīnus, of an ass, from asinus, ass.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin asinīnus ("of a donkey or ass").

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Examples

  • While I happen to consider the term asinine as defined by the Bush Administration, putting it in quotes is approximately equivalent to preceding it with a deprecating but information-free phrase such as so-called.

    Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2008

  • In Major League Baseball, meantime, the Yankees are bemoaning revenue sharing while White Sox General Manager Ken Williams used the word "asinine" to describe the possibility that Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols could land a $30 million a year contract.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2011

  • Alternatively should I talk about Asin, the Latin root of the English word "asinine" whose hyper-animated innocent girl routine was so grating that I was cheering on Ghajini and his sledgehammer to put me out my misery?

    Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind 2009

  • It's just plain asinine to think that by concious efforts alone you can stop all the spyware/viruses on the internet from infecting your computer.

    AppRemover Removes Stubborn Security Applications | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • Donkeys, however -- equus asinus- where we get the word asinine -- are principally known for stubbornness, a demonstration of which is now in session.

    Will Durst: Swamp Drainage Detritus Will Durst 2010

  • Donkeys, however -- equus asinus - where we get the word asinine -- are principally known for stubbornness, a demonstration of which is now in session.

    Will Durst: Swamp Drainage Detritus 2010

  • Donkeys, however -- equus asinus - where we get the word asinine -- are principally known for stubbornness, a demonstration of which is now in session.

    Will Durst: Swamp Drainage Detritus 2010

  • Donkeys, however -- equus asinus- where we get the word asinine -- are principally known for stubbornness, a demonstration of which is now in session.

    Will Durst: Swamp Drainage Detritus Will Durst 2010

  • I know the stereotype is out there that donkeys are dumb animals (hence the root of the word asinine), but there are limits to their stupidity and I firmly believe even a donkey would not posit the garbage that Schmedly put forward.

    Obama Pokes Fun At Hillary's Shot-And-A-Beer 2009

  • Judy, if I do nothing else in my life I will never stop trying to bring to people the conviction of how wasteful and asinine is a human expenditure of this kind.

    The Thoughtful Soldier 2004

Comments

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  • 1. foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid: It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements.

    2. of or like an ass: asinine obstinacy; asinine features.

    December 11, 2006

  • I hit on that in Vegas and lost...

    April 27, 2008