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Wednesday September 15, 1999

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fatuous \FACH-oo-uhs\ , adjective:
1. Inanely foolish and unintelligent; stupid.
2. Illusory; delusive.

Publishers persist in the fatuous belief that a little hocus-pocus in the front flap blurb will so dazzle readers that they'll be too dazed to notice the quality of what's on the pages inside.
-- "A night in the city", Irish Times, October 7, 1997

No enquiry, however fatuous or ill informed, failed to receive his full attention, nor was any irrelevant personal information treated as less than engrossing.
-- Michael Palin, Hemingway's Chair

A British first amendment would support religious freedom by having nothing to do with Prince Charles's fatuous hope to be the 'defender of all the faiths', but by disestablishing the Church of England.
-- Nick Cohen, "Damn them all", The Observer, October 7, 2001

Fatuous comes from Latin fatuus, "foolish, idiotic, silly."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for fatuous

 

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