Search for: stupid
701 Etymology dictionary, p. bonehead (n.).2
"stupid person," 1908, from bone (n.) + head (n.). Compare blockhead, meathead. Bone-headed "ignorant" is from 1903. Earlier it was used in reference to types of primitive spears or harpoons.
702 Etymology dictionary, p. boob (n.).2
"stupid person," 1909, American English slang, perhaps a shortening of booby. For the "woman's breast" sense, see boobs. Mencken seems to have coined booboisie (1922).
703 Etymology dictionary, p. booby (n.).2
"stupid person," 1590s, from Spanish bobo "stupid person," also used of various ungainly seabirds, probably from Latin balbus "stammering," from an imitative root (see barbarian ).
704 Etymology dictionary, p. boo-boo (n.).2
"mistake," 1954, apparently a reduplication of boob "stupid person," which had acquired a secondary sense of "foolish mistake" (1934). In 1930s it was the nickname of Philadelphia gangster Max "Boo-Boo" Hoff.
705 Etymology dictionary, p. boob tube (n.).2
… boob "stupid person" + slang tube (n.) "television, television programming;" the original sets had vacuum tubes in them. It seems to have been popularized, if not coined …
706 Etymology dictionary, p. bovine (adj.).2
… and stupid" is from 1855.
707 Etymology dictionary, p. brainless (adj.).2
late 15c., "witless, stupid," from brain (n.) + -less. Related: Brainlessly; brainlessness .
708 Etymology dictionary, p. Brit (n.).2
… -minded, stupid."
709 Etymology dictionary, p. brute (adj.).2
… , dull, stupid, insensible, unreasonable" (source also of Spanish and Italian bruto ), said to be an Oscan word, from PIE *gwruto-, suffixed form of root *gwere- (1) "heavy …
710 Etymology dictionary, p. brutish (adj.).2
1530s, "pertaining to animals," from brute (n.) + -ish. In reference to humans, "uncultured, stupid," from 1550s. Related: Brutishly; brutishness .
711 Etymology dictionary, p. bufflehead (n.).2
… meant "stupid person" (1650s; compare buffle-headed "big-headed," also "foolish," 1650s).
712 Etymology dictionary, p. bullet-headed (adj.).2
1680s, "stupid;" 1722, "having a bullet-shaped head," from bullet (n.) + -headed .
713 Etymology dictionary, p. Bumble.2
"self-important petty official," 1856, from the name of the fussy, pompous, stupid beadle in Dickens' "Oliver Twist." Related: Bumbledom .
714 Etymology dictionary, p. changeling (n.).2
… (usually stupid, strange, or ugly) superstitiously believed to have been left by the faeries in place of a beautiful or charming one they have stolen away is …
715 Etymology dictionary, p. cheesy (adj.).2
… ignorant, stupid person." In late 19c. British slang, cheesy was "fine, showy" (1858), probably from cheese (n.2) and some suggest the modern derogatory use is an ironic …
716 Etymology dictionary, p. clinker (n.).2
… meaning "stupid mistake" is first recorded 1950 in American English; originally (1942) "a wrong note in music."
717 Etymology dictionary, p. clod (n.).3
… , dolt, stupid fellow" is from c. 1600 (compare clodpate, clodpoll, etc. in the same sense). It also was a verb in Middle English, meaning both "to coagulate, form into …
718 Etymology dictionary, p. cluck (n.).2
1703, "sound made by a hen," from cluck (v.). Slang meaning "stupid person" (chickens and turkeys are famously foolish) is from 1927.
719 Etymology dictionary, p. clumpy (adj.).2
"consisting of clumps, of the nature of a clump, lumpy," 1820, from clump (n.) + -y (2). Also noted 1881 in an Isle of Wight glossary as a noun meaning "a stupid fellow." Related: Clumpily; clumpiness. Compare clumperton .
720 Etymology dictionary, p. clumsy (adj.).3
… .) "a stupid fellow."