half-witted

adjective

Definition of half-wittednext
1
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily the young genius mastered calculus while his peers, who seemed half-witted in comparison, labored over basic addition and subtraction

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment had the half-witted idea to try to swim across the raging river, and would have drowned if someone hadn't rescued him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for half-witted
  1. dumb
  2. foolish
  3. stupid
  4. silly
  5. slow
  6. absurd
  7. simple
  8. insane
Adjective
  • And that's exactly where Glenn was for the second time this season — guilty of the dumbest moment of the week.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • There’s a dumb ending, involving the Bewitched theme and Dennis Rodman discussing the perils of adult illiteracy (sure), but everything before that is pretty fun, including the Bumblebee Man turning into a bumblebee and Lisa into Albert Einstein.
    — Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of dumb
Adjective
  • The descent into foolish and self-destructive groupthink provides the drama.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026
  • But Ohtani also struck out three times Thursday — made to look foolish in a much-too-familiar way.
    — Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of foolish
Adjective
  • Sick and suffering and young and stupid do not factor into the construction of a case against you.
    — Ivy Wolk, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Just give us the stupid game on the stupid channel and leave us alone.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of stupid
Adjective
  • The Wu-Tang Clan's mastermind has carved out a second career directing mid-level action flicks, and last year's One Spoon of Chocolate is a solid if silly movie.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Most phone apps look silly this way, especially those still running as standard iPhone apps, which look normal but with lots of black padding on either side.
    — Nilay Patel, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of silly
Adjective
  • The course of Alzheimer’s disease is slightly slower than that of Lewy body dementia, according to Vossel.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The team found that slower charging helped create more uniform, inorganic-rich protective layers, which are important for maintaining stable battery performance.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of slow
Adjective
  • Maybe that’s an absurd quibble, though, for a series that is proudly manufactured from the very beginning.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2026
  • There's no luck in baseball, because everything must have an explanation, no matter how absurd.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of absurd
Adjective
  • The actor wore a long black leather coat over a simple black tank, paired with straight-leg blue jeans cinched with a leather belt.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The company played with flexible workdays instead of rigid schedules, clearer windows for collaboration, simpler rules for meetings, better ways to share and document work, and more intentional reasons for coming together in person.
    — Deborah Lovich, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of simple
Adjective
  • Cohen and Harwood grew up in Maryland, studying Top 40 hits and FL Studio tutorials; in some ways, this fun, formalist record—impeccable songcraft, insane sprezzatura—plays like a tribute to those days.
    — Samuel Hyland, Pitchfork, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Many have told me that Veronica Beard has copied more small brands, this is insane.
    — Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of insane
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

half-wits
half-witted
half-wittedness
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Cite this Entry

“Half-witted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/half-witted. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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