Meanings
comparative more brainless · superlative most brainless
- not comparableHaving no brain.
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?
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLCSynonyms: anencephalous
- comparableUnintelligent, with little common sense.
"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,[…]!"
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLCSynonyms: half-brained, half-witted, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, soft · Antonyms: brainy
- Of an action performed, overly repetitive and unchallenging, not requiring any careful attention or providing any significant stimulation.
Near-synonyms: automatic, rote, dull
Synonyms: mindless, automatic, rote, dull · Antonyms: engrossing
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving no brain.
adjectiveUnintelligent, with little common sense.
adjectiveOf an action performed, overly repetitive and unchallenging, not requiring any careful attention or providing any significant stimulation.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot using intelligence
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishbraynles
- Englishbrainless
From Middle English braynles; equivalent to brain + -less.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali মস্তিষ্কহীন, মস্তিষ্কহীন
- মস্তিষ্কহীন (mostiśkohin)having no brain
- মস্তিষ্কহীন (mostiśkohin)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Bulgarian безмо́зъчен, безмо́зъчен
- безмо́зъчен (bezmózăčen)having no brain
- безмо́зъчен (bezmózăčen)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Chinese Cantonese 冇腦 /冇脑
- 冇腦 /冇脑 (mou⁵ nou⁵)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Chinese Mandarin 瞎頭子 /瞎头子, 無頭腦的 /无头脑的
- 瞎頭子 /瞎头子 (xiātóuzi)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
- 無頭腦的 /无头脑的 (wútóunǎo de)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Esperanto sencerba
- sencerbahaving no brain
Finnish aivoton, aivoton
- aivotonhaving no brain
- aivotonunintelligent; having little or no common sense
French sans cervelle
- sans cervelleunintelligent; having little or no common sense
German hirnlos, gedankenlos
- hirnloshaving no brain
- gedankenlosunintelligent; having little or no common sense
- einfältigunintelligent; having little or no common sense
- hirnlosunintelligent; having little or no common sense
Greek ανεγκέφαλος, ανεγκέφαλος
- ανεγκέφαλος (anegkéfalos)having no brain
- ανεγκέφαλος (anegkéfalos)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
- άμυαλος (ámyalos)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
- ανόητος (anóitos)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Japanese 頭が悪い
- 頭が悪い (atama ga warui)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Lithuanian besmegenis, besmegenis
- besmegenishaving no brain
- besmegenisunintelligent; having little or no common sense
Māori rorokore, rorokore
- rorokorehaving no brain
- rorokoreunintelligent; having little or no common sense
Persian بیمغز, بیمغز
- بیمغز (bi-maġz)having no brain
- بیمغز (bi-maġz)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Polish bezmózgi, bezmózgi
- bezmózgihaving no brain
- bezmózgiunintelligent; having little or no common sense
Portuguese descerebrado
- descerebradounintelligent; having little or no common sense
Russian безмо́зглый, безмо́зглый
- безмо́зглый (bezmózglyj)having no brain
- безмо́зглый (bezmózglyj)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Spanish descerebrado, descerebrado
- descerebradohaving no brain
- descerebradounintelligent; having little or no common sense
Turkish beyinsiz, akılsız
- beyinsizhaving no brain
- akılsızunintelligent; having little or no common sense
- geri zekalıunintelligent; having little or no common sense
- gerzekunintelligent; having little or no common sense
- beyinsizunintelligent; having little or no common sense
Ukrainian безмо́зкий, безмо́зкий
- безмо́зкий (bezmózkyj)having no brain
- безмо́зкий (bezmózkyj)unintelligent; having little or no common sense
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
brainless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brainless
“brainless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brainless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brainless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brainless.
Source: brainless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.