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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.


(ˈhɛəˌbreɪnd) or


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


or hair•brained


giddy; reckless.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.harebrained - very foolishharebrained - very foolish; "harebrained ideas"; "took insane risks behind the wheel"; "a completely mad scheme to build a bridge between two mountains"




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


hairbrained [ˈhɛəˌbreɪnd] adjscervellato/a
References in classic literature ?
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.
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.
The study also surveyed 2,000 fans to reveal which of the duo's harebrained money-making schemes would have been viable business ventures.
Addict Holly is to blame for the incident, after her harebrained plot to pay off her debts backfires horribly.
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(?
They should scrap this harebrained scheme now and get a grip on the road maintenance instead.
Even if money could be found to rectify this harebrained scheme it would be too late to correct any conservation or environmental damage.
Starring Harry Hill as a harebrained boffin whose nutty experiments all end in disaster.
HOW come everyone except George Osborne can see that his harebrained and insane "Help to Buy" scheme to "boost the housing market" by forcing taxpayers to pay towards buyers' deposits and guarantee their mortgages will create a bust that will make Gordon Brown's effort seem like a blip?
Don't waste any more of our money on harebrained schemes and jolly trips abroad.
A road comedy about a trio of Brazilian actresses on a harebrained mission to work in Indian musicals, "Bollywood Dream" is slow to start, then comes home strong when the distaff dancers get their groove on.