jejune

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparableformaldisapproving

   Showing a childish or shallow understanding that lacks real depth or experience.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a jejune argument, the argument was jejune.

   Patterns

   • a jejune argument
   • jejune in tone

   The critic called the film's political message jejune.

   His jejune theories impressed no one at the seminar.

   She found the novel's romance jejune and predictable.

2. 2adjectivecomparableliterary

   Dull, dry and lacking interest or substance.

   Grammar: A less common sense, mainly in older or very formal writing.

   The lecture was jejune and left the students restless.

   He gave a jejune summary that omitted every detail.

   The magazine's jejune articles lost readers.

Word forms

Common combinations

a jejune argument

It was a jejune argument that ignored the facts.

jejune idealism

Their jejune idealism soon met reality.

strike someone as jejune

The poem struck me as jejune.

jejune and shallow

The review dismissed the script as jejune and shallow.

Synonyms and how they differ

naive

Naive stresses innocence or lack of experience, while jejune adds a scornful sense of intellectual thinness.

simplistic

Simplistic criticizes ideas that ignore complexity, whereas jejune also suggests immaturity.

puerile

Puerile means childish and silly in behavior, while jejune is more about lack of depth in thought.

insipid

Insipid describes something bland and dull, with no suggestion of immature thinking.

Opposites

Word family

jejunely adverb

in a naive or dull manner

jejuneness noun

the quality of being jejune

Commonly confused: jejune or juvenile?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “jejune”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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