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The chowder in chowderhead is neither New England nor Manhattan (though one could speculate that a chowderhead has either type of clam chowder for brains). Chowderhead is a mispronunciation of jolterhead, a derivative of the 16th-century insult jolt head. Before being extended to a thickheaded person (i.e., a blockhead), the term jolt head was used literally for a large, heavy head. The etymology of jolt head is obscure; the term is likely connected somehow to the jolt that means "an abrupt jerky blow or movement," but the exact nature of the connection is not known.
Synonyms
- airhead
- birdbrain
- blockhead
- bonehead
- bubblehead
- chucklehead
- clodpoll
- clodpole
- clot [British]
- cluck
- clunk
- cretin
- cuddy [British dialect]
- cuddie
- deadhead
- dim bulb [slang]
- dimwit
- dip
- dodo
- dolt
- donkey
- doofus [slang]
- dope
- dork [slang]
- dullard
- dum-dum
- dumbbell
- dumbhead
- dummkopf
- dummy
- dunce
- dunderhead
- fathead
- gander
- golem
- goof
- goon
- half-wit
- hammerhead
- hardhead
- idiot
- ignoramus
- imbecile
- jackass
- know-nothing
- knucklehead
- lamebrain
- loggerhead [chiefly dialect]
- loon
- lump
- lunkhead
- meathead
- mome [archaic]
- moron
- mug [chiefly British]
- mutt
- natural
- nimrod [slang]
- nincompoop
- ninny
- ninnyhammer
- nit [chiefly British]
- nitwit
- noddy
- noodle
- numskull
- numbskull
- oaf
- pinhead
- prat [British]
- ratbag [chiefly Australian]
- saphead
- schlub [slang]
- shlub
- schnook [slang]
- simpleton
- stock
- stupe
- stupid
- thickhead
- turkey
- woodenhead
- yahoo
- yo-yo
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Cite this Entry
“Chowderhead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chowderhead. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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