INSIPID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does insipid mean? 

• INSIPID (adjective)
  The adjective INSIPID has 2 senses:

1. lacking taste or flavor or tang

2. lacking interest or significance or impact

  Familiarity information: INSIPID used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSIPID (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking taste or flavor or tang

Synonyms:

bland; flat; flavorless; flavourless; insipid; savorless; savourless; vapid

Context example:

vapid tea

Similar:

tasteless (lacking flavor)

Derivation:

insipidity; insipidness (lacking any distinctive or interesting taste property)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lacking interest or significance or impact

Synonyms:

insipid; jejune

Context example:

jejune novel

Similar:

uninteresting (arousing no interest or attention or curiosity or excitement)

Derivation:

insipidness (extreme dullness; lacking spirit or interest)

 Context examples 

She was not of so ungovernable a temper as Lydia; and, removed from the influence of Lydia's example, she became, by proper attention and management, less irritable, less ignorant, and less insipid.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Everything is so insipid, so uninteresting, that does not relate to the beloved object!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

If I must give my opinion, I have always thought it the most insipid play in the English language.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

This sensation of listlessness, weariness, stupidity, this disinclination to sit down and employ myself, this feeling of every thing's being dull and insipid about the house!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

There was a kind of cold hearted selfishness on both sides, which mutually attracted them; and they sympathised with each other in an insipid propriety of demeanor, and a general want of understanding.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The comfort, the freedom, the gaiety of the room was over, hushed into cold composure, determined silence, or insipid talk, to meet the heartless elegance of her father and sister.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

It was at first a very insipid diet, though common enough in many parts of Europe, but grew tolerable by time; and having been often reduced to hard fare in my life, this was not the first experiment I had made how easily nature is satisfied.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The sarcasm that had repelled, the harshness that had startled me once, were only like keen condiments in a choice dish: their presence was pungent, but their absence would be felt as comparatively insipid.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I know you very well; you have so much animation, which is exactly what Miss Andrews wants, for I must confess there is something amazingly insipid about her.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

It is an insipid fruit at the best; but a good apricot is eatable, which none from my garden are.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)