inanity

/ɪˈnænɪti/

//ɪˈnænɪti// noun

"inanity" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“inanity” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The property of being inane, of lacking material of interest or satisfaction, emptiness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-inanity · inanity · English

inanity · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for inanity
PropertyValue
Headwordinanity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɪˈnænɪti/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “inanity” in English

inanityranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

inanity is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɪˈnænɪti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

inanity has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French inanité, from Latin inanitas, equivalent to inane + -ity. The correct English form is inanity, spelled I-N-A-N-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The property of being inane, of lacking material of interest or satisfaction, emptiness.
  2. 2
    Something that is inane.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how inanity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. All those who criticise the inanity of the effort required by the stemmatic approach without clearly adopting a position of their own, do not, in my view, touch upon the core of the problem […]
  2. Working in any bureaucracy means being bedeviled by inanities daily.

Etymology

From French inanité, from Latin inanitas, equivalent to inane + -ity.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "inanity"?
"inanity" is spelled I-N-A-N-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪˈnænɪti/.
What does "inanity" mean?
As a noun, "inanity" means: The property of being inane, of lacking material of interest or satisfaction, emptiness.
How do you pronounce "inanity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "inanity" is /ɪˈnænɪti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "inanity"?
From French inanité, from Latin inanitas, equivalent to inane + -ity. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list