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nitwit

[ nit-wit ]
/ ˈnɪtˌwɪt /
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noun

a slow-witted, stupid, or foolish person.

RELATED WORDS

fool, dummy, cretin, dunce, jerk, blockhead, bonehead, imbecile, ninny, pinhead, simpleton, numskull, ignoramus, moron, nincompoop, dumbbell, dimwit, dork, halfwit

Nearby words

  1. nits-and-lice,
  2. nitti,
  3. nitti, francesco saverio,
  4. nitty,
  5. nitty-gritty,
  6. niu tireni,
  7. niuan,
  8. niue,
  9. niuean,
  10. niuzhuang

Origin of nitwit

1920–25; nit (< German; dialectal variant of nicht not) + wit1(in the sense of ‘intelligence’)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for nitwit

British Dictionary definitions for nitwit

nitwit

/ (ˈnɪtˌwɪt) /

noun

informal a foolish person

Word Origin for nitwit

C20: perhaps from nit 1 + wit 1
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
Word Origin and History for nitwit

nitwit

n.

"stupid person," 1922, probably from nit "nothing," from dialectal German or Yiddish, from Middle Low German (see nix) + wit (n.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper