saphead

American

[sap-hed] / ˈsæpˌhɛd /

noun

Slang.

a simpleton; fool.

saphead ¹ British

/ ˈsæpˌhɛd /

noun

slang a simpleton, idiot, or fool

"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

saphead ² British

/ ˈsæpˌhɛd /

noun

military the end of a sap nearest to the enemy

"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

Other Word Forms

sapheaded

adjective

Etymology

Origin of saphead

First recorded in 1790–1800; sap ¹ + head

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.

But Mr. Kellow is no saphead, and he makes objectivity a great virtue.

From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2011

This kind of pitch, with its view of the consumer as saphead, is still afl too prevalent.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are some big shell-craters there, and they may be using one of them as a saphead.

From The First Hundred Thousand by Hay, Ian

My seat was next to Mrs. Martin for safe keeping, while grey eyes sat across from me and talked to an aggressive looking saphead in a watered silk waistcoat.

From I Walked in Arden by Crawford, Jack

He shook his head and cried vehemently: “What a saphead I’d be if I fell to that bait!”

From In the Heart of a Fool by White, William Allen

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