as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily the show's amateur sleuth always has to explain to the dim-witted police chief who really committed the murder

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of dim-witted His longest-running series role was as Con Stapleton, a dim-witted card dealer who briefly becomes sheriff, in the 2004 HBO Western Deadwood. Gabriela Silva, TVLine, 21 Feb. 2025 Comedian Al Campbell played a dim-witted commentator with the ludicrous name Barry Shitpeas. Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2025 Admittedly, laying off development staff to pay investors that fund publishing is a bit like cutting off your legs while trying to escape from a rampaging lion, but most of the people in publishing management are rather dim-witted. Ollie Barder, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024 Written and produced by John Hughes, the irreverent and indelible holiday staple follows an 8-year-old who must defend his family’s sprawling Chicago home from two dim-witted robbers after his family members accidentally abandon him while en route to their Christmas vacation in Paris. Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 21 Dec. 2024 Hybrids are also, to put it bluntly, a bit dim-witted. Rebecca Heisman, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024 But what held your interest was the anti-spectacle of a tough little punk band blazing through songs about big-hearted losers and dim-witted politicians. Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2024 It must be said that wrong CEOs are not dim-witted or evil. Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2024 Laszlo, like the rest of the characters, is hilariously dim-witted, which feels like a rarity right now when antiheroes and dark comedy rule television. Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dim-witted
Adjective
  • Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.
    Daniel Jackson, Allure, 18 July 2017
  • Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.
    Andy Benoit, The MMQB, 10 July 2017
Adjective
  • Thank you Hallie for thinking of me and putting my name in your stupid brother's ear.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Feb. 2025
  • That would have been a stupid question just about anywhere else, but the exhibition was by Laura Owens, a painter with a penchant for trickery, and the venue was Matthew Marks Gallery in New York, whose press release for Owens’s latest outing offered little in the way of explanation.
    Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 24 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • While there, we were met with a slower pace of life, more affordable off-season rates, and fewer crowds.
    Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 23 Feb. 2025
  • The latter half of the show had a bit of a lull, with the audience staying less engaged and driven as some of the slower tracks blended into each other.
    Britt Julious, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • But there's a simple—and so easy-to-remember—method that will make the packing process easy every time: the 5-4-3-2-1 method.
    Alesandra Dubin, Southern Living, 1 Mar. 2025
  • Prioritizing fitness amid a busy travel schedule, the former Radio City Rockette and The Talk host says her outlook is simple.
    Meredith Lepore, Travel + Leisure, 1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • The final product is smooth but not thin, with a thick and intriguing mouthfeel.
    Erik Ofgang, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
  • The average iPhone 16 measures 7.9mm (0.31 inches) thick, and the Galaxy S25 measures 7.2mm (0.28 inches) thick.
    Eric Zeman, PCMAG, 5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Because not only do viewers suffer through the whitest cast ever, but also one of its most politically ignorant.
    Melanie Curry, refinery29.com, 17 Feb. 2025
  • Greed could refer to material attachment, jealousy bleeds into hatred, and delusion encompasses similar attitudes, like living a life ignorant to Buddha’s teachings or being dull and uncaring.
    Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 17 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dim-witted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dim-witted. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.

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