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“Then away goes the brisk and pleasant Spirits and leave a vapid or sour Drink.” So wrote John Mortimer—an early 18th-century expert on agriculture, orchards, and cider-making—in his book on husbandry. His use was typical for his day, when vapid was often used specifically in reference to liquor. The term comes from Latin vapidus, meaning “flat-tasting,” a possible relative of vapor. That use still occurs today; you might, for example, hear an uninspiring wine described as vapid. More likely, however, you’ll hear vapid, along with the synonyms insipid, flat, and inane, describe people and things that are dull and boring, empty and insubstantial, or lacking spirit and character.
Examples of vapid in a Sentence
Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator, 2001
In a secular age, symbolic rituals such as lighting the Olympic torch inevitably risk seeming a little vapid.
—Tony Perrottet, Civilization, June/July 2000
… the incompetent servant, by whomsoever employed, is always against his employer. Even those born governors, noble and right honourable creatures, who have been the most imbecile in high places, have uniformly shown themselves the most opposed (sometimes in belying distrust, sometimes in vapid insolence) to THEIR employer. What is in such wise true of the public master and servant, is equally true of the private master and servant all the world over.
—Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, 1865
a song with vapid lyrics
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024
What is remarkable about these conversations isn’t the subject matter itself, but how vapid, predictable, and sycophantic the back-and-forth becomes.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2024
Latinos in the New Millennium represents a potential antidote to this vapid discourse and a data-rich corrective to the stereotypes that too often define Hispanics in the United States.
—Ray Suarez, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2012
The modeling industry can seem vapid and filled with more cons than pros, but these models have been determined to change that with their entrepreneurial aspirations.
—Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 12 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for vapid 
Dictionary Entries Near vapid
Cite this Entry
“Vapid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vapid. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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