Fatuous By Deane Barker • September 8, 2021 • Definition: foolish or silly, especially in a smug or self-satisfied way Sounds kind of like “facetious,” but has no relation. Why I Looked It Up I was watching a documentary about art forgery (Made You Look). The core conflict of the documentary was whether Ann Freedman knew dozens of paintings were forgeries. Someone said, “[Ann] made a comment that was especially fatuous.”