dunce
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- duncelike adjective
- duncical adjective
- duncish adjective
- duncishly adverb
Etymology
Origin of dunce
1520–30; after John Duns Scotus, whose writings were attacked by the humanists as foolish
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s about as academically relevant to today’s students as Sadie Hawkins Day, and as necessary as a dunce cap.
From Los Angeles Times
If you do think that he could, please step forward and claim your complimentary dunce cap, and infuse it with your own naivete.
From Salon
Ironically, she was punished in school for not being able to keep quiet and put in a corner with a dunce cap on her head.
From Los Angeles Times
Why fabricate a tale in which one comes off as a self-confessed dunce?
From Literature
“You are dunces, both of you, believing that rot,” I say.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
