dunce cap

American  

Or dunce's cap

noun

1. a tall, cone-shaped hat formerly worn by slow or lazy students as a punishment in school.

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dunce cap British  

noun

1. a conical paper hat, formerly placed on the head of a dull child at school

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Etymology

Origin of dunce cap

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

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 • May 5, 2023

Abraham Lincoln imprisoned editors during the Civil War, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt admonished a journalist to go to the corner and wear a dunce cap.

From Washington Times • Dec. 3, 2020

So Yandy gets points for trying to make it desirable by combining a striped road-cone-colored poncho with a mini dunce cap, an ensemble called the Candy Corn Cutie.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2020

It kind of went out with the dunce cap.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2019

Sammy plopped the dunce cap on top of his jockey cap.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan