numbskull

noun

numb·​skull ˈnəm-ˌskəl How to pronounce numbskull (audio)
variants or less commonly numskull
1
: a dull or stupid person : dunce
2
: a thick or muddled head

Examples of numbskull in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Scott, likewise, packs his divisive prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, with a bunch of disposable and largely unsympathetic numbskulls. A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024 Fey didn’t write this uneven comedy, but it’s got some of the same sophisticated satire of big-city elites that 30 Rock exudes, and Martin has a ball playing a pompous numbskull who doesn’t know that ponytails have been over for more than a decade. Will Leitch, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024 Contra-stereotype, Finkel estimates that only ten per cent of meatheads are numbskulls. Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023 Sure, any numbskull can pour a bag of iron filings into a jug of Tide (trust me, my wife is still screaming). David H Freedman, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2012 Four women enjoying a retreat at a secluded lakeside cabin are attacked by three numbskulls and turn the tables on them, becoming the torturers. Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 1 Apr. 2018 Thank you to US press and other numbskulls who put him there. Colin Stutz, Billboard, 1 June 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1697, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of numbskull was in 1697

Dictionary Entries Near numbskull

Cite this Entry

“Numbskull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/numbskull. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

numbskull

variant of numskull

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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