dullard
See also: Dullard
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English dullard, dollard, equivalent to dull + -ard (pejorative agent suffix). Compare Faroese døll (“dullard, good-for-nothing, blockhead”), Norwegian Nynorsk døl (“idiot, simpleton”).
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdʌlɚd/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdʌləd/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: dul‧lard
Noun
editdullard (plural dullards)
- A stupid person; a fool.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool
- 1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 41:
- Oh! Richard of Bury, I sighed, for a sharp stone from your sling to pierce with indignant sarcasm the mental armour of these college dullards.
- 1995, Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism, Vintage Books, published 2006, page 211:
- Whereas some prodigies develop at an early age, Einstein did not exhibit any great genius as a young child. Some people thought he was a dullard.
Translations
editA stupid person; a fool
Further reading
edit- “dullard”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.