lunkhead

noun

lunk·​head ˈləŋk-ˌhed 

variants or lunk

ˈləŋk 

plural lunkheads or lunks

: a stupid or dull-witted person : dolt

"Where I lived, in Central Square, Cambridge, you had the working class and the university life—you'd have to be a lunkhead not to be keenly aware of it," says [Ben] Affleck.

—Steven Daly

[Bruce] Willis played the lunk who ran a down-and-out detective agency that came to life when model Cybill Shepherd became his partner.

—Stephen Dubner

In the onscreen romance department, actress Shelley Fabares has seen her share of hunks and lunks.

—Cynthia Sanz and John Griffiths

Synonyms

• airhead
• birdbrain
• blockhead
• bonehead
• bubblehead
• chowderhead
• chucklehead
• clodpoll
• clodpole
• clot [British]
• cluck
• clunk
• cretin
• cuddy [British dialect]
• cuddie
• deadhead
• dim bulb [slang]
• dimwit
• dip
• dodo
• dolt
• donkey
• doofus [slang]
• dope
• dork [slang]
• dullard
• dum-dum
• dumbbell
• dumbhead
• dummkopf
• dummy
• dunce
• dunderhead
• fathead
• gander
• golem
• goof
• goon
• half-wit
• hammerhead
• hardhead
• idiot
• ignoramus
• imbecile
• jackass
• know-nothing
• knucklehead
• lamebrain
• loggerhead [chiefly dialect]
• loon
• lump
• meathead
• mome [archaic]
• moron
• mug [chiefly British]
• mutt
• natural
• nimrod [slang]
• nincompoop
• ninny
• ninnyhammer
• nit [chiefly British]
• nitwit
• noddy
• noodle
• numskull
• numbskull
• oaf
• pinhead
• prat [British]
• ratbag [chiefly Australian]
• saphead
• schlub [slang]
• shlub
• schnook [slang]
• simpleton
• stock
• stupe
• stupid
• thickhead
• turkey
• woodenhead
• yahoo
• yo-yo

Example Sentences

don't let that lunkhead anywhere near your work tools

Recent Examples on the Web

The character was not a hothead but a himbo, a Presidential lunkhead. —Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2022

The walls are booklined: Charlie is no lunkhead but an avid reader. —Joshua Rothkopf, EW.com, 21 Dec. 2021

The fun throughout, the payoff, is in seeing Beth yank the rug out from one misunderestimating lunkhead and authority figure after another. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Nov. 2020

The fun throughout, the payoff, is in seeing Beth yank the rug out from one misunderestimating lunkhead and authority figure after another. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Nov. 2020

The fun throughout, the payoff, is in seeing Beth yank the rug out from one misunderestimating lunkhead and authority figure after another. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Nov. 2020

The fun throughout, the payoff, is in seeing Beth yank the rug out from one misunderestimating lunkhead and authority figure after another. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Nov. 2020

The fun throughout, the payoff, is in seeing Beth yank the rug out from one misunderestimating lunkhead and authority figure after another. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Nov. 2020

The fun throughout, the payoff, is in seeing Beth yank the rug out from one misunderestimating lunkhead and authority figure after another. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Nov. 2020

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Word History

Etymology

probably alteration of lump + head

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined above