Meanings
- uncountablebusinessThe senseless and excessive use of PowerPoint as a communication medium, characterized by an overreliance of superficial visual effects, such as animated transitions, which detract from the clarity and substantive quality of the presentation.
Near-synonym: death by PowerPoint
4 more examples
We do not have to subject ourselves or our students to 'death by PowerPoint' or 'PowerPointlessness' as Jamie McKenzie calls it
2005, David Clive Nettelbeck, Computers, Thinking and Learning: Inspiring Students with Technology, page 52Powerful PowerPoint: Tips for Ending PowerPointlessness ...
2007, Steven J. Bell, John D. Shank, Academic Librarianship by Design, page 139PowerPointlessness in higher education is an educational sin. I am rethinking.
2007, Glenn Rikowski, PowerPointlessness in Higher Education (Target page closed down by AOL)Avoid 'PowerPointlessness!' A presentation should always be about your audience, not about you.
2008, various authors, “Presentation Skill”, in Presentation Skill, Global Media, →ISBNSynonyms: death by PowerPoint
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe senseless and excessive use of PowerPoint as a communication medium, characterized by an overreliance of superficial visual effects, such as animated transitions, which detract from the clarity and substantive quality of the presentation.
Origin
Blend of PowerPoint + pointlessness, coined by Jamie McKenzie in 2000.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
PowerPointlessness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PowerPointlessness
“PowerPointlessness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PowerPointlessness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “PowerPointlessness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PowerPointlessness.
Source: PowerPointlessness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.