half-wit
[half-wit, hahf-]
- a person who is feeble-minded.
- a person who is foolish or senseless; dunderhead.
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Origin of half-wit
First recorded in 1670–80
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
fool, dummy, dumbbell, dunce, dullard, idiot, nitwit, dope, imbecile, blockhead, clod, simpleton, dingbat, ignoramus, moron, cretin, dimwit, dolt, dunderhead, dorkExamples from the Web for half-wit
Contemporary Examples
Naomi Watts plays Diana as a sweet-natured, wistful, half-wit.
Historical Examples
"For the family," was Cleena's watchword, and it had already become the half-wit's.
Reels and SpindlesEvelyn Raymond
"No half-wit about you," admiringly quoth the carpenter's mate.
Blackbeard: BuccaneerRalph D. Paine
Beside being a half-wit he had something the matter with his legs.
Poor WhiteSherwood Anderson
Allie Mulberry the half-wit was one of the highlights of life in the town.
Poor WhiteSherwood Anderson
For what the half-wit did was what he had seen these others do.
The Broken GateEmerson Hough
Word Origin and History for half-wit
n.
1670s, originally "a would-be wit whose abilities are mediocre;" sense of "simpleton" (one lacking all his wits) is first attested 1755.
Half-wits are fleas; so little and so light,
We scarce could know they live, but that they bite.
[Dryden, "All for Love"]
Phrase out of half wit "half out of one's mind" was in Middle English (late 14c.). Half-witted "lacking common sense" is from 1640s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper