mooncalf

[moon-kaf, -kahf]

noun

plural

mooncalves 

1. a congenitally grossly deformed and mentally defective person.

2. a foolish person.

3. a person who spends time idly daydreaming.

mooncalf

/ ˈmuːnˌkɑːf /

noun

1. a born fool; dolt

2. a person who idles time away

3. obsolete,  a freak or monster

Word History and Origins

Origin of mooncalf¹

First recorded in 1555–65; moon + calf ¹

Example Sentences

The long-term effects of that mooncalf renaissance are impossible to gauge from here.

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Prince Bumpo, the heir to the throne, is a mooncalf who mistakes fairy tales for real life, speaks in Elizabethan periphrasis and murmurs to himself: “If only I were a white prince!”

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“You’re a mooncalf,” she said.

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He stared off into space with a dumb mooncalf look on his face that made you want to slap him.

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Then there are those beasts that, due to cleverness or innate shyness, avoid contact with Muggles at all costs—for instance, the unicorn, the Mooncalf and the centaur.

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