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asinine
adjective

- extremely stupid

(Cambridge Dictionary)

Most sources trace the origin of the adjective asinine, meaning stubborn or stupid, to the Latin asininus, which literally means like an ass. This is a rather indirect etymological connection however.

Ass was originally the word for donkey, or the "beast of burden" it is affectionately called. It stems from the Old English assa, which is likely from an Old Celtic word for donkey "as". Along with the German Esel, Gothic asilus, Lithuanian asilas and Old Church Slavonic osl, the Celtic ultimately derives from the Latin asinus.

This of course brings up another question: Why has the poor donkey been made synonymous with being dumb and ignorant? Since Greek times, the donkey has been painted as a stubborn and not extremely bright animal, even clumsy.

Anyone who has ever tried to deal with a donkey would probably agree that the reputation for stubbornness is actually well-deserved, but the stereotype as clumsy is off the mark. If that were true, the Grand Canyon National Park would avoid using them to traverse the narrow and dangerous paths down the canyon. The donkey may not be man’s best friend, like the dog as they say, but it’s a reliable worker.

The term donkey is a slang expression by the way. It’s not clear where it originated, but it may stem from "dun," a dull gray-brown.

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SYNONYMS

stupid, foolish, pointless, boorish, brainless, mindless, senseless, doltish, dimwitted, idiotic, ignorant, imbecilic, imbecile, insane, lowbrow, lunatic, oafish, ridiculous, ludicrous, absurd, preposterous, nonsensical, fatuous, silly, childish, churlish, infantile, puerile, immature, juvenile, inane, witless, half-baked, empty-headed, unintelligent, half-witted, slow-witted, weak-minded

informal: crazy, dopey, cretinous, moronic, damfool BRIT. = daft, gormless (U.S.) = dumb, dumb-ass

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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO A CONVERSATION TODAY

"Jim chose to ignore Broderick's asinine remark. It was better that way."