Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A dunce.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A dunce; a numskull.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A dunce; a numskull; a blockhead.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A stupid person; a dunce

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a stupid person; these words are used to express a low opinion of someone's intelligence

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps Dutch donder, thunder (from Middle Dutch doner; see (s)tenə- in Indo-European roots) + head.]

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Examples

  • Those state functionaries need to get their heads checked and stop protecting the very people that are p*issing on them. 'dunderhead' - lol!

    The Independent - Frontpage RSS Feed 2010

  • And while that might sound like a naive and silly comment like, where have you been dunderhead, that is how it has been for years, if not forever!

    Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater: Lame Duck and Tower of Babel Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater 2010

  • And while that might sound like a naive and silly comment like, where have you been dunderhead, that is how it has been for years, if not forever!

    Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater: Lame Duck and Tower of Babel Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater 2010

  • To call him a "dunderhead" would be an insult to true "dunderheads" like Sarah Palin.

    OMG! Knit dinosaurs playing guitar! frankwu 2010

  • Maduna apparently called Tshishonga a "dunderhead" and a "relic of the bantustans".

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2005

  • Although truly about a mentally fractured woman turned vigilante psychopath after a beating by thugs leaves her laid up in a hospital for three weeks, only to wake up to the news that her fiance was killed in the attack all plot points readily pronounced in the previews, so don't cry spoiler, the film would like to pass itself off as a story about female empowerment—the kind of dunderhead regressiveness mistaken for social progress in a logic-free think tank.

    Archive 2008-01-01 2008

  • Although truly about a mentally fractured woman turned vigilante psychopath after a beating by thugs leaves her laid up in a hospital for three weeks, only to wake up to the news that her fiance was killed in the attack all plot points readily pronounced in the previews, so don't cry spoiler, the film would like to pass itself off as a story about female empowerment—the kind of dunderhead regressiveness mistaken for social progress in a logic-free think tank.

    The Brave One (2007): C 2008

  • There was a postscript, too: I am such a dunderhead with languages that you will have to be the one who translates.

    Uprising Margaret Peterson Haddix 2011

  • I've had enough experiences in my life that are beyond the pale that I'd be a dunderhead not to believe in miracles.

    Ingrid Hill - An interview with author 2010

  • Finally some democrats are realizing what a complete dunderhead Obama is.

    Talks break down, intra-party tension heats up for House Democrats 2009

Comments

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  • Hey! Someone in my office just said this!

    *smiles*

    January 16, 2009