mouth breather

noun

variants or mouth-breather

ˈmau̇t͟h-ˌbrē-t͟hər 

or less commonly mouthbreather

plural mouth breathers or mouth-breathers also mouthbreathers

1

: a person who breathes mostly through the mouth rather than the nose

He suffered from a deviated septum and was a chronic mouth breather.

—Michael Chabon

Estimates on the number of people who are mouth-breathers vary. However, according to sleep expert James Nestor … as many as half of the population are affected.

—Luke Chafer

2

slang : a crude, stupid person

… a mouth breather with ugly glasses and greasy flat hair …

—Owen Gleiberman

The plane is muggy and crowded. I'm next to a mouthbreather playing some … game on his iPad with the volume all the way up.

—John Caleb Grenn

Word History

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for mouth breather

• either
• neither

Medical Definition

mouth breather

noun

mouth breath·​er -ˌbrē-t͟hər 

: a person who breathes mostly through the mouth rather than the nose

He suffered from a deviated septum and was a chronic mouth breather.

—Michael Chabon, The New Yorker