What's the difference between inane and pointless?

Inane


Definition:

  • (a.) Without contents; empty; void of sense or intelligence; purposeless; pointless; characterless; useless.
  • (n.) That which is void or empty.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) He throws confessions about his love of guns or his lust for violence into restaurant conversations, but his inanely sophisticated companions carry on conversing about the varieties of sushi or the use of fur by leading designers.
  • (2) Indeed, the internet’s troll culture developed, at least in part, as a response to the inane “participation” offered by online marketers.
  • (3) The dialogue is perfect: the broker waxes inanely on ("A lovely space"), and the prospective buyers ooze gratitude at being granted a viewing.
  • (4) She reminds me of the time David was ridiculed for being photographed grinning inanely with a banana.
  • (5) This decade, on the other hand, has been relatively lax when it comes to pumping out neuron-destroying musical inanity.
  • (6) The internet has been awash with rumours, the inane chirping of the Twitter ranks rising slowly to a roar.
  • (7) Nobody, not even Geoff Boycott, cares about such inane guff.
  • (8) A sublime opener was followed by the inane offence that triggered Russia's comeback for an ominous victory.
  • (9) Jean-Paul Belmondo disrupts a conventional household in À Double Tour (Web of Passion, 1959) by playing inane practical jokes and completely disregarding table manners.
  • (10) This may be the only way to early counteract medically inane causal relationship being presented by the relative's advocate.
  • (11) One moment Mor was drawing a foul from Pavel Kaderabek and Selcuk Inan was hitting the wall from the free-kick, the next Kaderabek was in on Babacan’s goal and firing in a shot that was deflected wide for a corner.
  • (12) In the minds of the kind of people who bring Talking Heads CDs to parties, their apparent popularity doubtless brings to mind Nietzschean notions of the inanity of the herd and the eternal attraction of bad art.
  • (13) TURKEY Fatih Terim, now in his third spell as Turkey manager, can call on an extraordinarily technically gifted midfield, with the holding midfielder Selcuk Inan allowing Barcelona’s Arda Turan and the Leverkusen free-kick specialist Hakan Calhanoglu to attack.
  • (14) "Inane stuff about what twits are having for breakfast.
  • (15) Before you write off digital stickers as inane, they are a decent moneyspinner for LINE: of the $58m the company made in sales in the first quarter of 2013, half came from selling games and 30%, or roughly $17m, from sales of its 8,000 different stickers.
  • (16) There were also bad and inane films - playing Chinese in Dragon Seed (1944); helpless in Without Love (1945) and The Sea Of Grass (1947), both with Tracy; trying to be Clara Schumann in Song Of Love (1947); and in Vincente Minnelli's neurotic Undercurrent (1946).
  • (17) As holidays are taken and the inane rituals of party conferences loom, too many politicians and commentators seem to have fallen for a comfy bit of groupthink: that what with the odd poor poll showing and this sudden outbreak of silence, the menace has receded and we have passed “peak Ukip”.
  • (18) Yes, where I live we would all appreciate a better commute – which, since I have this opportunity to address you on the subject, would include the summary dismissal of the people who inflict those inane recorded announcements about holding on to our luggage, standing behind the yellow line, using the lifts when carrying heavy items, avoiding slipping over when it has been frosty overnight, and reading the safety instructions before travelling.
  • (19) 'An inane jumble': Trump foreign policy splits GOP on issue party once agreed on Read more Steps away from the chaos, Democrats at the US Capitol used the opportunity to portray Republicans as belonging to the “Party of Trump”.
  • (20) ■ "Wittering inanity", "Fatuous", "Pass the jubilee sickbag".

Pointless


Definition:

  • (a.) Having no point; blunt; wanting keenness; obtuse; as, a pointless sword; a pointless remark.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The citizenship debate is tawdry, conflated and ultimately pointless | Richard Ackland Read more On Wednesday, the prime minister criticised lawyers for backing terrorists.
  • (2) It’s the same story over and over.” Children’s author Philip Ardagh , who told the room he once worked as an “unprofessional librarian” in Lewisham, said: “Closing down a library is like filing off the end of a swordfish’s nose: pointless.” 'Speak up before there's nothing left': authors rally for National Libraries Day Read more “Today proves that support for public libraries comes from all walks of life and it’s not rocket science to work out why.
  • (3) But now the document turns crazily surreal, like the pointless war itself.
  • (4) And David Ngog was a pointless signing too – one which puzzled us all.
  • (5) "It is pointless to think sovereign bond rates could be brought down for an extended period of time by outside interventions," said Draghi.
  • (6) They aren't pointless; apart from any craft they may teach, they can also offer connections and contacts – a "way in" – which is the modern essential of anyone trying to start a career.
  • (7) An Australian family that lost three children and a grandfather in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has published an emotional tribute calling for an end to the “pointless war” in eastern Ukraine.
  • (8) People are criticising what we are doing as pointless and saying we won’t achieve anything, but history has shown us that is not the case,” student leader Joshua Wong told the crowd last week.
  • (9) It is pointless to go back over the missed opportunities, but an essential part of the design of this regional conference is that it should be able to be supported by Russia and China as well as the US.
  • (10) Hoodies don't vote, they've realised it's pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the "we don't give a toss about you" party.
  • (11) Bojórquez, the editor, says that for the moment the risks are manageable within his commitment to the idea that journalism is pointless unless it informs.
  • (12) The others are either infuriatingly vague (“An NHS with time to care”) or pointlessly catch-all (“A country where the next generation can do better than the last”).
  • (13) Especially when there’s no funeral to go to, just an endless stream of pointless review meetings.
  • (14) "If this doesn't bring down mortgage rates for 95% loans then the whole thing is completely pointless," he said.
  • (15) To express guarded optimism about the Greek deal is not to condone the provocative arrogance of former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis or the pointless vindictiveness of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble .
  • (16) The PCC came under fire last week from the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, who branded its report on phone hacking at the News of the World "worse than pointless".
  • (17) 3 Don’t be afraid to talk about corruption Poverty overseas is often associated with corruption: 67% of the British public think that government corruption makes donating to reduce poverty “pointless” (up from 48% in 2008), according to research from Jennifer and David Hudson.
  • (18) But it's a pointless endeavour if the fundraising activity contributes to and compounds the culture in which our breasts are only relevant if they're being admired by someone else's eyes.
  • (19) Quibbling over whether fashion is more or less important than art is just as pointless as questioning whether or not it is art.
  • (20) Why should Paris or Berlin waste political capital - they have suspicious voters too - on concessions to Britain when it may all be pointless?