insipid English · revision 1325

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪnˈsɪp.ɪd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|insipide]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la-lat|insipidus|t=tasteless]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Latin ''in-'' “not” and ''sapidus'' “savoury”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''sapere'' “to taste; to be wise”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It is related to [[sapient]] and [[sapid]].^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Without taste or perceptible flavour (1620).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates it to 1609.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “uninteresting, dull” is recorded from the 1640s,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) probably from Medieval Latin or the Romance languages, where it was a secondary sense.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) An obsolete sense was “lacking judgment, stupid” (1651).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1620 – tasteless.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1649 – dull, uninteresting.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1651 – lacking judgment, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1879–89 – ''insipid diabetes''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Lacking flavour; [[bland]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Lacking interest or character; dull and [[vapid]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[insipidity]]

+ * [[insipidly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sapient]]

+ * [[savor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Merriam-Webster compares ''insipid'', ''vapid'', ''flat'', ''jejune'', ''banal'' and ''inane'', all meaning lacking spirit or character, and explains that ''insipid'' implies too little taste to please or interest.^(MW Collegiate) Random House gives ''flat'', ''dull'', ''uninteresting'', ''tasteless'' and ''bland'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}