1
as in stupid
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
the young genius mastered calculus while his peers, who seemed half-witted in comparison, labored over basic addition and subtraction
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
had the half-witted idea to try to swim across the raging river, and would have drowned if someone hadn't rescued him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for half-witted
Adjective
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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
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Miami would be foolish to hold onto him as the team still looks to be multiple years away from contending for a postseason berth.—
Mark Joseph,
Newsweek,
23 Feb. 2025
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Today’s Wordle Etymology The word madly comes from mad (meaning insane, foolish, or intense in emotion) + -ly, a suffix used to form adverbs.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.—
Daniel Jackson,
Allure,
18 July 2017
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Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.—
Andy Benoit,
The MMQB,
10 July 2017
Adjective
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My long-distance boyfriend often addressed letters with silly names or in-jokes.—
A.S. King,
TIME,
21 Feb. 2025
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Taking the material beyond its original audience of one, the writer-director offers a delicious mélange of the surreal and the silly for all ages.—
Sheri Linden,
The Hollywood Reporter,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Morgan Stanley also highlighted risks such as weaker consumption and a slower pace of enterprise digitalization.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
23 Feb. 2025
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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
Adjective
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To even suggest that my clients were somehow resistant to other points of view, acted secretly and/or abusively or threatened anyone’s job is patently false and frankly absurd.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
21 Feb. 2025
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That would be absurd!’ Athwart Gravy Train Wreck James Lileks In the resistance world, Musk and Trump have fused into one dark bolus of evil, a grinning fleshy blob that throbs with malevolence: Muskentrump.—
George Weigel,
National Review,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Yellow is the simplest, and purple is the most difficult.—
New York Times Games,
New York Times,
17 Feb. 2025
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Its simple style can be dressed up with your best evening wear or paired with casual outfits to be your next wardrobe staple.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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While Nigerians are upset with economic conditions, most are not mad at Dangote.—
John Hyatt,
Forbes,
17 Feb. 2025
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Yellow blossoms on little-leaf green-twig shrubs attract local bees, and butterflies flutter in a mad dance around sprays of blue mistflower.—
Sunshine Flint,
AFAR Media,
13 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Half-witted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/half-witted. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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