Fatuity (fah·TOO·i·tee) [Latin fatuits, from fatuus; silly, foolish.]
n. pl. -ties.
- smug stupidity, utter foolishness. absurdity. A ludicrous folly.
- something that is utterly stupid or silly.
Usage: The possibility that the Rethuglicans can maintain their stranglehold on both houses of congress appears to be an exercise in fatuity.
Do you have a better usage? If so, please share!
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I found this wonderful word (below) in a book by the amazing and incomparable Virginia Woolf, entitled Mrs. Dalloway.
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Usage: In the American two party system, any reliance or loyalty to either party or further trust in their ability to do anything other than promote their own self interest is an exercise in fatuity.
Yes, Republicans certainly are fatuous no matter what definition you use, but I think that most people that use the word "fatuity" today use it to mean something that is intellectually bankrupt.
Brian, how does that invalidate Brian's suggestion?
Bob (err, Brian is my second name. Honest)
For me "fatuous" and "fatuity" have a note of lazy smugness or vacuity. Which are hard to apply to people who will actually get off their asses and vote for those fools.
The really sad thing is that people who vote Republican care. They either care about their wallets or their families and are scared for them. Like certain Germans of the 1930s, they've been fooled by energetic, patriotic-sounding rhetoric.
I think the Republican takeover began long ago, when we stopped giving both sufficient resources and critical attention to public education. Leaving us with too many citizens lacking such intellectual tools as a BS detector.