fatuous (2009-06-21)

Part of Speech: adjective

Pronunciation: ['fæ-chu-wês]

Definition: (1) Smugly or unconsciously foolish, stupid. (2) Unreal, illusory, not likely to occur or exist.

Usage: Today's word refers to a person who acts stupidly unawares: "Bernard's fatuous description of Prague was embarrassing in itself but then he continued blathering about how he always visits it when he is in Poland!" All hopes of Bernard learning his geography may be fatuous (in the second sense of the word).

Suggested Usage: You can't tell a book by its cover and you can't tell a word by its appearance: "ramshackle" has nothing to do with shackling rams, "fastidious" does not bespeak speed, "ajar" is unrelated to jars, and "fatuous" has nothing to do with fat. It refers to a kind of stupidity that is unaware of itself. The noun is "fatuity" [fæ-'tu-ê-ti].

Etymology: From Latin fatuus "foolish, silly." The Latin root fat- derives from an earlier root *bhat-, which does not seem to be related to English "beat" or "bat." Both of these words apparently came from variations of French battre "beat," a descendent of Latin battuere, which came with an initial [b] rather than an [f]. So, the etymological lines of "fatuous" themselves are a bit fatuous.