Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for scatterbrain. Search instead for scattergram.
Synonyms

scatterbrain

American  
[skat-er-breyn] / ˈskæt ərˌbreɪn /
Or scatterbrains

noun

scatterbrains plural
  1. a person incapable of serious, connected thought.


scatterbrain British  
/ ˈskætəˌbreɪn /

noun

  1. a person who is incapable of serious thought or concentration

"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

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of scatterbrain

First recorded in 1780–90; scatter + brain

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.

See Examples For:

The recommendation says she was "a bit scatters" - a scatterbrain, in other words.

From BBC Oct. 13, 2023

This is my voice, this is how I act, this is my scatterbrain behavior.

From Slate Jan. 3, 2018

The youngest is something of a scatterbrain, picking up a piece of string here, a dead bird there.

From New York Times Dec. 2, 2016

Our personalities meet in the middle with a balance of caprice and control: We play against type when it comes to writing, as the poet is the taskmaster and the military officer is the scatterbrain.

From Salon May 25, 2015

Her own mother, the most levelheaded Olympian, was reduced to a raving, vicious scatterbrain in a subway station.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

Pick something for the Surge to focus on, you scatterbrains.

From Slate Sep. 24, 2022

"Is it not extraordinary, in a country like ours, educated, prosperous, and fairly happy, that doctrines of this kind should be taught by learned men as well as scatterbrains?"

From Time Magazine Archive

My young scatterbrains find it hard to understand that the beast which was so precious two days ago is now of no value whatever.

From More Hunting Wasps by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander

It was by my contrivance, incorrigible scatterbrains, that Anselmo undertook this desirable purchase; she should have been placed into my own hands, but your cursed officiousness knocks everything on the head again.

From The Blunderer by Molière

The mind that is fed upon a diet of morning and evening newspapers, mainly or solely, will become flabby, uncertain, illogical, frivolous, and, in fact, little better than a scatterbrains.

From A Book for All Readers An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries by Spofford, Ainsworth Rand

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training