Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fatuous

/ˈfæ.tʃu.əs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.23 in modern English

Syllables: fatu-ous
IPA: /ˈfæ.tʃu.əs/

10

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Obnoxiously stupid; vacantly silly; content in one's foolishness.

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: vacuous; see also Thesaurus:stupid"
"Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here. The Dude: He fixes the cable? Maude: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey."
"A fatuous love affair can easily result in a fatuous marriage. A couple who hardly know each other and, indeed, may not even really like each other, make a commitment that has little chance of being honoured."
"While much publicity is given to fatuous 'reversing Beeching' ideas, the reality is that the real investment is focused on expanding the road network - [...]."

Etymology

From Latin fatuus (“foolish, silly, simple”).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: fatuus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈfæ.tʃu.əs/
British English: /ˈfæt.ju.əs/

Inflected Forms

more fatuous (comparative) most fatuous (superlative)

Derived Forms

unfatuous

Frequently Paired Words

fatuity fatuously fatuousness infatuate

Synonyms

vacuous addlebrained addlepated airheaded bee-brained beef-witted soft beefheaded beetle-headed birdbrained blockheaded Boeotian

Questions

How do you pronounce fatuous?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfæ.tʃu.əs/.
What does fatuous mean?: Obnoxiously stupid; vacantly silly; content in one's foolishness.
Where does fatuous come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce fatuous

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fatuous”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfæ.tʃu.əs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “fatuous” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.