meaninglessness
meaninglessness — noun
1. the fact that a word, sign, or piece of writing does not express any clear messa
the fact that a word, sign, or piece of writing does not express any clear message or idea at all — for example, random characters on a page or sounds whose purpose is unknown.
The strange old symbols on the tablet had a mysterious beauty yet complete meaninglessness.
complete meaninglessness of symbols or text
After the computer error, the report was full of random letters with a frustrating meaninglessness.
Charlotte stared at the garbled message and felt overwhelmed by its total meaninglessness.
Linguists debated whether the chanted sounds had meaning or were pure meaninglessness.
The toddler's drawing was full of bright colours despite the apparent meaninglessness of the shapes.
- nonsense
more informal; often refers to speech or writing that is silly or untrue rather than literally empty of meaning
- emptiness
broader in scope; can also describe a lack of emotion or substance, not just meaning
- senselessness
stronger connotation of irrationality or absurdity beyond simple absence of meaning
- meaning
the quality of expressing a clear idea or purpose
- significance
highlights importance or import rather than basic semantic content
用法筆記
Frequently used with 'complete', 'total', or 'pure' as modifiers (complete meaninglessness, total meaninglessness) and with 'of' to specify what lacks meaning (the meaninglessness of the symbols).
常見錯誤
2. the quality of being unimportant, worthless, or without any real purpose — for e
the quality of being unimportant, worthless, or without any real purpose — for example, a task that achieves nothing or a life that feels empty of value.
After years of pointless meetings, Bao felt a deep sense of meaninglessness in his work.
deep sense of meaninglessness — about purpose or value
The long walk through the empty desert gave Rohan a strange feeling of meaninglessness.
Sora argued that chasing money without a greater goal leads to meaninglessness.
For Tamar, the endless paperwork brought a quiet meaninglessness to her afternoons.
The volunteers refused to accept the meaninglessness of their task and kept trying to help.
- pointlessness
emphasises wasted effort or lack of purpose; more concrete and everyday
- worthlessness
focuses on lack of value rather than lack of purpose
- futility
more formal; suggests that any attempt to act is doomed to fail
- importance
direct opposite in terms of value and relevance
- purpose
the sense of having a goal or reason to act
用法筆記
Commonly appears with nouns for feelings or attitudes: 'a sense of meaninglessness', 'a feeling of meaninglessness', 'despair at the meaninglessness of something'. Often describes situations, routines, or life conditions rather than individual words or texts.
常見錯誤
3. the quality of being confusing or impossible to understand, so that a piece of s
the quality of being confusing or impossible to understand, so that a piece of speech or writing feels as though it carries no clear sense — even if the individual words are recognisable.
Bilal read the badly translated instructions several times and grew annoyed at their meaninglessness.
meaninglessness of confusing or poorly written text
The abstract poem was beautiful to Eleni, but its apparent meaninglessness confused the critics.
Ezra admitted that the paragraph needed rewriting because its meaninglessness would frustrate readers.
The teacher explained that the sentence had a grammatical structure but grammatical meaninglessness.
Obi tried to translate the ancient chant but gave up on its meaninglessness.
- incomprehensibility
more formal; describes something that cannot be understood at all
- obscurity
focuses on being hard to grasp due to vagueness or complexity rather than literal absence of meaning
- vagueness
softer; about imprecision and lack of clarity, not complete absence of meaning
- clarity
the quality of being easy to understand
- comprehensibility
formal; the quality of being understandable
meaninglessness — adjective
- meaninglessnesspositive
- more meaninglessnesscomparative
- most meaninglessnesssuperlative
1. not having any meaning, purpose, or real value — for example, words that say not
not having any meaning, purpose, or real value — for example, words that say nothing useful, a promise that is not kept, or a gesture that achieves nothing.
Obi threw away the meaningless flyer without reading it.
Charlotte found the politician's long, meaningless speech boring and walked out early.
meaningless speech — talk without real content or purpose
The data showed a pattern, but the numbers alone were meaningless without context.
Sade felt that the award was meaningless because the committee had not followed fair rules.
Joshua's promise turned out to be completely meaningless when he broke it the next day.
- meaningful
having importance, value, or a clear message
- significant
carrying importance or notable effect