mooncalf

American

[moon-kaf, -kahf] / ˈmunˌkæf, -ˌkɑf /

noun

plural

mooncalves

a congenitally grossly deformed and mentally defective person.
a foolish person.
a person who spends time idly daydreaming.

mooncalf British

/ ˈmuːnˌkɑːf /

noun

a born fool; dolt
a person who idles time away
obsolete a freak or monster

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of mooncalf

First recorded in 1555–65; moon + calf ¹

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.

The long-term effects of that mooncalf renaissance are impossible to gauge from here.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2021

Prince Bumpo, the heir to the throne, is a mooncalf who mistakes fairy tales for real life, speaks in Elizabethan periphrasis and murmurs to himself: “If only I were a white prince!”

From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2020

By 1752, Dr. Johnson had begun to mock such reaching and its mooncalf hyperbole.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 3, 2016

But Doinel, the eternal mooncalf, is lured away by a Japanese girl.

From Time Magazine Archive

He stared off into space with a dumb mooncalf look on his face that made you want to slap him.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023