doofus
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of doofus
An Americanism daing back to 1960–65; probably alteration of earlier goofus in same sense
Explanation
A doofus is a dummy or a simpleton — in other words, a goofy person who's not very smart. You might decide not to buy a top hat and suspenders after trying them on, looking in a mirror, and realizing you look like a doofus. Use the informal doofus when someone acts with stupidity or does something ridiculous and unthinking. If your brother angrily accuses you of stealing his favorite sunglasses, you can say, "You mean the ones on your head, doofus?" The word was originally 1960s US student slang, and it's thought to be modeled after goofus, an older term with a similar meaning, or to stem from the Scots doof, or "dolt."
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.
See Examples For:
In the messages, Lively referred to Baldoni as "this doofus director of my movie" and described him as "a clown" who "thinks he's a writer now".
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
Its crusader is a magnificent doofus trying to improve himself.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2025
He was the doofus who extolled Americans who were “working hard to put food on your family” and asked “Is your children learning?” and then dared to insist he’d been “misunderestimated.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2022
Baby is utterly baffled by your unintelligible warble and your shamelessly doofus grin, but “baby so cuuuuuute!”
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2022
Had that big doofus scribbled my name on the gifted list by accident?
From "Ungifted" by Gordon Korman
We’ve shunned those former doofuses and nihilists for so long, even as it becomes clear that the future of the nation hinges on bringing them along.
From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2026
Those doofuses on YouTube, spinning out in their jumped-up Ford Mustangs?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
By now in life, any people happening upon that tape without recognizing they would want that guy on their team would have to count as doofuses.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2022
Carrey and Jeff Daniels star as Lloyd and Harry, two absolute doofuses who get mixed up in a kidnapping and ransom plot.
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2022
“Just two doofuses from Daly City,” said Robinson, 86, the former USC and Rams coach wistfully repeating a phrase the two pals used often over the course of their nearly 80-year friendship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
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.
