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.

---

dunce cap British  

noun

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

---

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

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 • Jan. 30, 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

It kind of went out with the dunce cap.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2019

The high hairdo towered over her thin face like dunce cap, the white-blond hair utterly incongruous with her olive skin.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld