brainless

English

Etymology

From Middle English braynles; equivalent to brain +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

brainless (comparative more brainless, superlative most brainless)

1. (not comparable) Having no brain.

   Synonym: anencephalous

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     Surely it was more likely that a brainless creature, acting solely by vague predatory instinct, would give up the chase when I disappeared, and, after a pause of astonishment, would wander away in search of some other prey?

2. (comparable) Unintelligent, with little common sense.

   Synonyms: half-brained, half-witted; see also Thesaurus:stupid

   Antonym: brainy

   Coordinate term: mindless

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     "I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!"

3. Of an action performed, overly repetitive and unchallenging, not requiring any careful attention or providing any significant stimulation.

   Synonym: mindless

   Antonym: engrossing

   Near-synonyms: automatic, rote, dull

Derived terms

• brainlessly
• brainlessness

Translations

having no brain

• Armenian: անխելք (hy) (anxelkʻ)
• Belarusian: бязмо́зглы (bjazmózhly), бязмо́згі (bjazmózhi)
• Bengali: মস্তিষ্কহীন (bn) (mostiśkohin)
• Bulgarian: безмо́зъчен (bg) (bezmózăčen)
• Esperanto: sencerba
• Finnish: aivoton (fi)
• Georgian: უტვინო (uṭvino)
• German: hirnlos (de)
• Greek: ανεγκέφαλος (el) m (anegkéfalos)
• Kazakh: мисыз (mıysız), ми жоқ (mıy joq)
• Lithuanian: besmegenis
• Māori: rorokore
• Persian: بی‌مغز (bi-maġz)
• Polish: bezmózgi (pl)
• Russian: безмо́зглый (ru) (bezmózglyj)
• Spanish: descerebrado (es)
• Turkish: beyinsiz (tr)
• Ukrainian: безмо́зкий (uk) (bezmózkyj)

unintelligent; having little or no common sense

• Belarusian: бязмо́зглы (bjazmózhly), бязмо́згі (bjazmózhi)
• Bengali: মস্তিষ্কহীন (bn) (mostiśkohin)
• Bulgarian: безмо́зъчен (bg) (bezmózăčen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 冇腦 / 冇脑 (mou⁵ nou⁵)

  Mandarin: 瞎頭子 / 瞎头子 (zh) (xiātóuzi), 無頭腦的 / 无头脑的 (zh) (wútóunǎo de)

• Finnish: aivoton (fi)
• French: sans cervelle
• Georgian: უტვინო (uṭvino)
• German: gedankenlos (de), einfältig (de), hirnlos (de)
• Greek: ανεγκέφαλος (el) m (anegkéfalos), άμυαλος (el) m (ámyalos), ανόητος (el) m (anóitos)
• Japanese: 頭が悪い (ja) (あたまがわるい, atama ga warui)
• Kazakh: мисыз (mıysız), ми жоқ (mıy joq)
• Lithuanian: besmegenis
• Māori: rorokore
• Persian: بی‌مغز (bi-maġz)
• Polish: bezmózgi (pl)
• Portuguese: descerebrado
• Russian: безмо́зглый (ru) (bezmózglyj)
• Spanish: descerebrado (es)
• Turkish: akılsız (tr), geri zekalı, gerzek (tr) (slang), beyinsiz (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: بوك (böñ), شاشقین (şaşkın)

• Ukrainian: безмо́зкий (uk) (bezmózkyj)

Anagrams

• bairnless