What does jejuneness mean?
Jejuneness names the quality of being jejune: thin, deficient, and lacking intellectual or emotional substance. In contemporary use, it usually characterizes writing, ideas, experiences, or institutions that feel bland, underfed, or insufficiently developed, often implying that what is offered has been deprived of depth, richness, or vitality. The word carries a literary, slightly formal tone and is more pointed than a general criticism of dullness because it suggests not merely boredom but nutritional paucity—an idea or work that is “undernourished.” In older or more technical contexts, jejuneness can also refer to the state of hunger. Although uncommon in ordinary speech, the noun is useful when the intended criticism is that something is intellectually or aesthetically impoverished rather than simply uninteresting. Its Latin roots reinforce this image: jejunus meant “hungry” and could describe barren or inadequate conditions, while the English adjective jejune developed both literal and figurative senses.
nounJejuneness is the quality of being jejune, especially of being bland, intellectually thin, or lacking in substance and vitality. In older usage, it can also mean the state of being hungry.
- The quality of being bland, intellectually thin, or deficient in substance and vitality.
- The state of being hungry, now chiefly archaic or literary.
"The novel's intellectual jejuneness left little for the reader to contemplate."
"The lecture was dismissed as an exercise in intellectual jejuneness."
"Hunger left the travelers exhausted by the jejuneness of their rations."
Jejuneness is normally treated as an uncountable noun, but the plural jejunenesses can be used when referring to separate instances of the quality.
"The critic identified several distinct jejunesses in the collection."
Jejuneness descends from Latin jejunus, meaning “hungry”: even figurative ideas can be described as undernourished.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does jejuneness come from?
Jejuneness was formed in English from the adjective jejune and the suffix -ness. Jejune comes from Latin jejunus, meaning “hungry” and, by extension, “thin, barren, or deficient,” and entered English in the early 17th century before gaining broader figurative uses. Related Latin-derived forms include jejunal and jejunum, both associated with the jejunum, the traditionally named “empty” part of the small intestine.
How jejuneness is actually used
The figurative sense is literary, formal, and strongly evaluative. It suggests deficiency or impoverishment rather than ordinary boredom. The literal sense referring to hunger is uncommon today.
Easily confused with jejuneness
Jejune is the adjective, while jejuneness is the noun naming the quality of being jejune.