Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A silly, foolish, or stupid person.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A fool; a blockhead; a simpleton.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Law A fool; a silly or stupid person.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a stupid foolish person
Etymologies
- Earlier (1676) nicompoop, possibly from Latin non compos mentis ("not of sound mind"). Earliest known use of nincompoop spelling is from 1680. (Wiktionary)
- Origin unknown . (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“And given ZANU Labour's tendency to reward disgraced Ministers with a fresh chance or three to lord it over us, we could be forgiven for thinking it won't be long before this nincompoop is ordering our lives for us once more.”
“Tulliver most justly sets down as a "nincompoop" -- is almost sillier than”
“Hill was famed for his short fuse on the newsroom floor, and reserved his most withering insult - "nincompoop" - for those he felt had performed particularly poorly.”
“nincompoop' -- that's only his coarse Scotch breeding; and I believe”
“As each day brings yet another piece of evidence to demonstrate their incompetence, people sit there open-mouthed that they have the effrontery to claim they are ‘dealing’ with whatever the latest foul-up is, that yet another ‘review’ is to take place (everyone now understands that to mean ‘kick into the long grass’), that lessons will be learnt and that such and such a nincompoop is a fit and proper person to clear up the mess he or she has created.”
“When did you last hear a politician – or anyone, for that matter – say "nincompoop"?”
The Guardian: Tony Blair's A Journey memoir released – live blog
“Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan called Palin a "nincompoop" last month for her downplaying of the Gipper's political legacy.”
The Huffington Post: Ed Rollins To Sarah Palin: 'You're No Reagan'
“As Scarborough mentions, former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan didn't take kindly to Palin's reduction of the Gipper's legacy, going as far as to call her a "nincompoop," but that stands as one of many lumps taken by the former vice presidential candidate.”
The Huffington Post: Joe Scarborough Urges GOP To 'Man Up' Against Sarah Palin
“But I would forgive you because you used the word "nincompoop".”
“The word "nincompoop" (or however you spell it) was one of my words, and now N is saying it CONSTANTLY and cracking up each time he does.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘nincompoop’.
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Olde Englisc
English words of Anglo-Saxon origin.
onslaught, slain, clove, clave, thrice, nincompoop, scorn, storm, scant, lurk, beneath, atop and 143 more...
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Iaan
dirigisme, dystopia, cacotopia, ex ante, veritable, indefatigable, curmudgeon, desultory, antediluvian, transmogrify, pendent, elongate and 268 more...
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The weird, the wonderful and the plai...
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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Nincompoopery
Words that clatter and tumble
nincompoop, pettyfoggery, gaberlunzie, cattywampus, weisenheimer, katzenjammer, hecklephone, loblolly, carriwitchet, flibbertyjibbet, hornswoggle, thimblerigger and 161 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2042 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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Origin unknown
bamboozle, ballyhoo, banter, bludgeon, chad, cocktail, culvert, curmugeon, dildo, dude, dweeb, dyke and 51 more...
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words that just sound funny
maybe it's just me but these words are fun to say or make me laugh or smile
monangahela, sisyphus, schlub, sassafrass, lollapalooza, mulligrubs, hoity-toity, hashmagandy, zenzizenzizenzic, addlepated, nincompoop, brouhaha and 3 more...
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Origin Unknown
Words listed as "origin unknown."
spang, nincompoop, lollapalooza, jive, mosey, mull, lush, dog, swizzle, swizzle stick, wonk, hootchy-kootchy and 5 more...
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people (bad)
nouns for bad people / words that describe bad people.
goto the good people list
( people, character, descriptor, noun )culprit, perpetrator, tormentor, swindler, bamboozler, nincompoop, thief, liar, back stabber, vandal, burglar, cheater and 85 more...
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simply silly and oft ludicrous
words that amuse, are not (yet?) real or simply tickle you in a strange way
nincompoop, funemployed, phantasmagoria, flabbergast, hippopotomonstros..., nurdle, nitwit, staccato brain fa..., synapse epilepsy, inconceivable, inconceivable, paraprosdokian and 1 more...
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carolinacc's list
jettisoned, yearn, chrestomathy, catachresis, elation, gesundheit, ohne, tertium quid, iota, oscillation, argillous, flagrate and 67 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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L’esprit de l’escalier
staircase wit or...
a feeling or thought I should have said but never did
because of fear.ennui, aboulia, boob, nincompoop, mooncalf, treppenwitz, hadiwist, et patati et patata, lire quelque chos..., tiddledies, elide, fastidious and 1 more...
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Verecund, flivver, etc
Just some words I happen to enjoy. Some thread-worn, some not.
yegg, yob, verecund, amatory, fermata, threepenny, gruntled, flivver, gamboge, decolletage, ordure, nudnik and 173 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for nincompoop.
timonti @drissel: correction its "non compos mentis" compos mentis meaning control of one's mind. Dec 5, 2011
drissel ?from "non compus mentis" Jul 18, 2009
tbtabby Lesser known words with similar connotations: liripoop, clinchpoop and twiddlepoop. Perhaps they come from the same root? Oct 8, 2008
pstone Dates back to at least the 17th century, probably from thieves' cant "nickum-poop." Oct 4, 2008
carolinacc This word seems like an exaggeration of verbosity just to indicate someone is a fool. Also, since it it rather complicated to articulate, the sayer risks the chance of making a fool of herself. Aug 7, 2008