Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A stupid person; a dolt.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. [capitalized] A disciple or follower of John Duns Scotus (see etymology); a Dunce-man; a Scotist.
- n. Hence A caviling, sophistical person; a senseless caviler.
- n. A dull-witted, stupid person; a dolt; an ignoramus.
Wiktionary
- n. One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a stupid person; these words are used to express a low opinion of someone's intelligence
Etymologies
- 1530, eponymous, from John Duns Scotus (circa 1265–1308). (Wiktionary)
- After John Duns Scotus, whose writings and philosophy were ridiculed in the 16th century. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If we're paying for two failed stadiums as the years roll on Randy, Sam and Dan will be in dunce caps in their official portraits.”
Before Henry Merritt and Charles Randy's New York honeymoon (Jack Bog's Blog)
“I watched bush mutilate the english language, lie, make sht up, and just be himself for eight years (freakin dunce).”
“In other words, a dunce is ... a hyper-specialized professor, the very same type of person graduate schools tend to churn out intentionally.”
“If this dunce is the “Ultimate Troll” … does that mean once he’s banned, TP will be troll free?”
“Recall the dunce caps and public confessions of the Cultural Revolution error.”
Female Chinese Land Seizure Protesters Stripped Naked & Jailed
“When it was time to leave primary school to start secondary school, it was a huge relief, when mercifully, Anthony was placed in what was known as the dunce's class and it was only the odd occasion when they bumped into each other.”
“He has also been called a dunce, an ignoramus, a barbarian.”
Luther Examined and Reexamined A Review of Catholic Criticism and a Plea for Revaluation
“Just as the criminal is generally a man of unusual energy and mental power directed into wrong channels, so the dunce is a pupil whose special powers and aptitudes have not revealed themselves in the routine of school life.”
“There is something comical about his objects, and many viewers, at least during my visit, had a hard time stifling their laughter while looking at photographs of a person wearing an oversize padded vest, lying prone on the floor with hands thrust into canvas pockets, or wearing what we in America generally identify as dunce caps.”
“It will before long be found, we prophesy, that, as the corruption of a dunce is the generation of an Utilitarian, so is the corruption of an Utilitarian the generation of a jobber.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dunce’.
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Change one letter
Change one letter in the title of an existing book, and create an entirely new literary work. Add a one-sentence comment, describing the new work.
all the pretty ho..., the brothels kara..., caesar's garlic wars, the unbearable ti..., a heartbreaking w..., the good marrow, the right stiff, lady windermere's..., infinite pest, the cremains of t..., eyes on the pride, the spoils of boy... and 747 more...
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Unsavory characters
absconder, aretaloger, arriviste, avaunter, bamboozler, bandit, banger, barbarian, barmecide, barrator, beldam, blatherskite and 190 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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unkind words
unkind words or those refering them.
twit, gibe, blockhead, bonehead, cretin, dullard, imbecile, simpleton, clod, dunce, simp, ignoramus and 39 more...
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Insult Words
A rich collection of all the ways you can insult someone's intelligence.
idiot, cretin, moron, dimwit, nincompoop, meathead, addlepate, dingbat, dumbbell, dunce, fool, halfwit and 31 more...
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I am costanza, lord of the "idiots"!
moron, dolt, knucklehead, buffoon, clown, imbecile, asinine, slow, witless, dimwitted, blockhead, clueless and 10 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
colleen's words ii
sibilant, sundry, spindle, distaff, device, mortar, pestle, scythe, flail, thresh, frown, elementary and 495 more...
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Namesakes
Words derived from names, be they historical, literary, or mythological.
quixotic, cereal, odyssey, jovial, mercurial, erotic, achilles' heel, confucianism, lovecraftian, narcissism, echo, fallopian and 101 more...
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Jamaican patois
"I and I plant the corn..."
i and i, rudeboy, ragamuffin, youth, dem, jamrock, jamden, fat 'matic, likkle, tuff, whe, inna and 132 more...
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Yet more words
hootowling, hoot owl, midday, prohibitive, shutdown, gerund, tripe, doweling, detestable, good measure, boojum, undergirding and 167 more...
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Reading Random
Got unknown words randomly
delinquency, modicum, dissuade, incendiary, destitute, lachrymose, plight, ruse, empirical, pedantic, demography, giggle and 444 more...
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Wuthering Heights
From Wuthering Heights
sagacity, austere, surmise, corroborating, malignity, ensconing, copious, perforce, obviate, dilapidation, must needs, palaver and 154 more...
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2011 July
New words
correspondent, promulgate, transgress, trite, ravine, corespondent, contrivance, contrive, expedient, conducive, clairvoyance, difform and 184 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for dunce.
pomegranate That's a sandworm, you idiot! Jan 30, 2008
rolig Originally an epithet for followers of John Duns Scotus, who were ridiculed as enemies of learning by 16th-century humanists. Dec 16, 2007