1
as in lunatic
a person who lacks good sense or judgment
don't be a nitwit—wear a seat belt!
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in idiot
a stupid person
an absolute nitwit as far as geography is concerned
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in fool
a silly flighty person
a nitwit who never should have been given a position of responsibility in the company
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Recent Examples of nitwit
The white supremacist rally that interrupted the mayor's lunch in Howell on Saturday wasn't overly impressive, really — just a dozen or so nitwits, and one ghost.
—
Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2024
The nitwits were chased off by a woman from the local library board.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2024
This childish nitwit called the judge deciding his case a Nazi, which earned him an extra five months in the J6 choir.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 June 2024
Dunst sleepwalks through this noxious comedy based on Toby Young’s 2001 memoir of the same name, playing a writer who takes a reluctant liking to Pegg’s infantile nitwit.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024
Or is the old guy in the golf cart supposed to be a square, privileged nitwit parroting MAGA nonsense?
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 2 May 2024
Yet the nitwits across the street, who clutter their lawn with Christmas blow-up dolls, have won the contest four years in a row.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 3 Dec. 2023
This implies that Elizabeth, for all her intelligence and sense of duty, was as much a moral nitwit as the Duke of Windsor.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
So, too, does the genuinely loathsome Robert Maxwell (look him up), played with a nicely despicable air by Roger Allam, and his nitwit son Kevin (Anthony Boyle), who insists that everyone call him Mr. Maxwell.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2023
Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2024
The nitwits were chased off by a woman from the local library board.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2024
This childish nitwit called the judge deciding his case a Nazi, which earned him an extra five months in the J6 choir.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 June 2024
Dunst sleepwalks through this noxious comedy based on Toby Young’s 2001 memoir of the same name, playing a writer who takes a reluctant liking to Pegg’s infantile nitwit.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024
Or is the old guy in the golf cart supposed to be a square, privileged nitwit parroting MAGA nonsense?
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 2 May 2024
Yet the nitwits across the street, who clutter their lawn with Christmas blow-up dolls, have won the contest four years in a row.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 3 Dec. 2023
This implies that Elizabeth, for all her intelligence and sense of duty, was as much a moral nitwit as the Duke of Windsor.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
So, too, does the genuinely loathsome Robert Maxwell (look him up), played with a nicely despicable air by Roger Allam, and his nitwit son Kevin (Anthony Boyle), who insists that everyone call him Mr. Maxwell.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nitwit
Noun
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Market timing is a risky game and often a fool’s errand.Ron Insana, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2024
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Alexander felt that he had been played the fool — made to love a baby who wasn’t his to raise.Julia Whelan Krish Seenivasan Lance Neal, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Her foothold in the entertainment industry firmly established, Grande soon landed her breakthrough role as the loveable ditz Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon’s Victorious.Stephen Daw, Billboard, 17 Oct. 2024
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Allen’s dramatic assertions about the lusts of movie men for a nubile young woman are matched by his contemptuous depiction of her as a ditz out of her depth, especially as compared to the soulful rebel Gatsby, who throws her over for a younger girl (Gomez).Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Noun
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An underrated gem — not enough people have seen this top-tier season — Squirrels Trip has some fabulous vocals, very funny lyrics, a heavy dose of stupid, and an engaging story.Barry Levitt, Vulture, 19 Apr. 2024
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The stupid!Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 July 2021
Noun
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However, one taste of genuine chocolate was enough to convince the James Beard Award-winning writer that the soul of cacao still exists, and to send him on a wild goose chase that would take him from the rainforests of Bolivia and Brazil to Belize and Guatemala to track it down in the wild.Laura Kiniry, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Dec. 2024
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There are also themes for Roz the robot, Brightbill the goose and Fink the fox.Jon Burlingame, Variety, 1 Dec. 2024
Noun
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For evolutionary biologists, the term cuckoldry originated to describe cuckoo birds who lay their eggs in other species’ nests, leaving their offspring to be unknowingly raised by foster parents.Brooke Scelza, Scientific American, 19 Sep. 2024
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The loss of common cuckoos, meanwhile, means that spring arrives in the U.K. without its iconic song.Jared Del Rosso, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Duvall is a big reason why: All the film’s insights into the slipperiness of identity are there in her casually virtuosic, veritable dual performance, in which a funny flibbertigibbet loses hold of herself as the world around seems to splinter into something frighteningly new.A.A. Dowd, Vulture, 19 July 2024
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Projects about Monroe have handled her personal life to varying degrees of success, often leaning into her flibbertigibbet persona, her struggles with addiction, and the paradox of her oozing sexuality and her little girl brokenness.Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Jan. 2023
Noun
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Should former President Trump stop calling Ambassador Haley birdbrain?CBS News, CBS News, 18 Feb. 2024
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By solving one kind of puzzle that stumped crows, though, the kids may have shown how a human mind treats problems differently than a birdbrain.Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 26 July 2012
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Cite this Entry
“Nitwit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nitwit. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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