witless

adjective

wit·​less ˈwit-ləs 

1

: lacking wit or understanding : foolish

2

: mentally unsound

… drive one witless with anxiety.

—William Styron

witlessly adverb

witlessness noun

Synonyms

• airheaded
• birdbrained
• bonehead
• boneheaded
• brain-dead
• brainless
• bubbleheaded
• chuckleheaded
• dense
• dim
• dim-witted
• doltish
• dopey
• dopy
• dorky [slang]
• dull
• dumb
• dunderheaded
• empty-headed
• fatuous
• gormless [chiefly British]
• half-witted
• knuckleheaded
• lamebrain
• lamebrained
• lunkheaded
• mindless
• oafish
• obtuse
• opaque
• pinheaded
• senseless
• simple
• slow
• slow-witted
• soft
• softheaded
• stupid
• thick
• thick-witted
• thickheaded
• unintelligent
• unsmart
• vacuous
• weak-minded

Examples of witless in a Sentence

He committed a witless blunder.

a dog so witless that it is barely trainable

Recent Examples on the Web

Witherspoon’s timing is whip-crack good, and Ferrell’s is, too, on a different wavelength, even when the material’s settling for surprisingly witless profanity punchlines that don’t quiiiiite qualify as actual jokes. —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2025

But this latest effort, premiering on Prime Video, proves a relentlessly vulgar and witless affair that not even the talents of stars Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon and a comedically gifted supporting cast can rescue. —Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

The federal government, in all its wisdom, is once again gearing up to save the witless American people from themselves. —Noah Rothman, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025

By most accounts, Trump’s ground game—powered by the witless Musk—was a bit of a mess, but Harris’s professional field operation seems to have been helpless to stem the tide of Trump’s support. —The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

witless

adjective

wit·​less ˈwit-ləs 

: lacking wit : foolish

witlessly adverb

witlessness noun