harebrained

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hare·brained

(hâr′brānd′)

adj.

Having or showing little sense; foolish: a harebrained scheme.

Usage Note: The first recorded use of harebrained dates to 1548. The spelling hairbrained also has a long history, going back to the 1500s when hair was a variant spelling of hare. The hair variant was preserved in Scotland into the 1700s, and as a result it is impossible to tell exactly when people began writing hairbrained in the belief that the word means "having a hair-sized brain" rather than "with no more sense than a hare." While hairbrained continues to be used, the standard spelling of the word is harebrained.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

harebrained

(ˈhɛəˌbreɪnd) or

hairbrained

adj

rash, foolish, or badly thought out: harebrained schemes.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hare•brained

or hair•brained

(ˈhɛərˌbreɪnd)

adj.

giddy; reckless.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

harebrained - very foolish; "harebrained ideas"; "took insane risks behind the wheel"; "a completely mad scheme to build a bridge between two mountains"

insane, mad

foolish - devoid of good sense or judgment; "foolish remarks"; "a foolish decision"

harebrained

adjective

1. So senseless as to be laughable:

absurd, foolish, idiotic, imbecilic, insane, lunatic, mad, moronic, nonsensical, preposterous, silly, softheaded, tomfool, unearthly, zany.

Informal: cockeyed, crazy, loony, loopy.

Slang: balmy, dippy, dopey, jerky, sappy, wacky.

2. Given to lighthearted silliness:

empty-headed, featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, frothy, giddy, lighthearted, scatterbrained, silly.

Informal: gaga.

Slang: birdbrained, dizzy.

Translations

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harebrained

[ˈhɛəbreɪnd] ADJ [idea, scheme] → disparatado, descabellado; [person] → casquivano

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

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References in classic literature ?

The harebrained self-conceit which had emboldened Wamba to undertake this dangerous office, was scarce sufficient to support him when he found himself in the presence of a man so dreadful, and so much dreaded, as Reginald Front-de-B uf, and he brought out his pax vobiscum, to which he, in a good measure, trusted for supporting his character, with more anxiety and hesitation than had hitherto accompanied it.

View in context

Perhaps he might have been suspected of meannesss if it had not been for the fact that with wonderful disinterestedness and all a comrade's readiness, his purse would be opened for some harebrained boy who had ruined himself at cards or by some other folly.

View in context

I shall perhaps find myself one day called out by some harebrained scamp, who has no more real cause of quarrel with me than you have with Beauchamp; he may take me to task for some foolish trifle or other, he will bring his witnesses, or will insult me in some public place, and I am expected to kill him for all that."

View in context

He was also the force behind a harebrained scheme to resettle the Jews of the world on an island outside of Buffalo, New York.

Zion-on-Niagara

In a trailer announcing the swan song Thursday, stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson sprint in a montage of clips from the odd-couple comedy series, which is about two best friends living out their 20s in New York City, experiencing several all-too-real awkward encounters and hatching plenty of harebrained schemes.

'Broad City' teases end of five-season run

"We don't know what we're going to do--we've got all kinds of harebrained schemes at this point.

Nuns back on the bus this fall

I honestly think that the 'driver-only car ban' on Edsa is another harebrained idea the Metro Manila Development Authority has come up with.

New car ban not solution to problem

The study also surveyed 2,000 fans to reveal which of the duo's harebrained money-making schemes would have been viable business ventures.

Mon Dieu! Never mind next year... Del and Rodney today would be worth PS3million

Addict Holly is to blame for the incident, after her harebrained plot to pay off her debts backfires horribly.

Fake take is a big mistake; We love SOAPS

Fill them with all those councillors who have approved such harebrained ideas as closing the ideally situated Central bus station in favour of letting the BBC take over the site, pedestrianisation of certain streets, and their latest brain(?)child, re-siting the existing taxi drop-off point to a location which, it is reported, will involve negotiating a staircase.

Bin councillors for their daft ideas; FEEDBACK

They should scrap this harebrained scheme now and get a grip on the road maintenance instead.

What about the roads?

Even if money could be found to rectify this harebrained scheme it would be too late to correct any conservation or environmental damage.