dunderhead
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dunderhead
1615–25; apparently < Dutch dunder ( kop ) numbskull ( dunder thunder + kop head) + head
Explanation
A person who's not so smart might be called a dunderhead. If you manage to start a fire while attempting to fry an egg, your mom might call you a dunderhead. Dunderhead is a more colorful way to say "dummy" or "stupid." It's derogatory, but not the meanest word for someone making a really foolish move: "You dunderhead!" tends to sound a little bit amused. You might call a goofy kid a dunderhead, or call yourself a dunderhead when you make the same silly mistake over and over again. The origin isn't certain, though the dunder part may come from the Middle Dutch word donder, or "thunder."
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.
Adolf Hitler was described by a prominent magazine editor in 1930 as a "big mouth," a "half-insane rascal," a "pathetic dunderhead" and a "nowhere fool."
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2022
Paula Murrihy’s Ruggiero is the easily swayed dunderhead who is entrapped by Alcina.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2021
What if the town recognized what it had — in talent, in appealing central stars and in organizational brains — before the kind of mega-success that would convert any dunderhead?
From Washington Post • May 24, 2015
If you were lucky enough to fall in with a group like that, and if you weren't a a complete dunderhead that reflexively resisted anything new, your horizons expanded.
From Salon • Jul. 19, 2010
Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn’t a dunderhead.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
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.
