mutt

noun

1
: a stupid or insignificant person : fool
2
: a mongrel dog : cur

Did you know?

Mutt can now be used with either affection or disdain to refer to a dog that is not purebred, but in the word's early history, in the U.S. around the turn of the 20th century, it could also be used to describe a person—and not kindly: mutt was another word for "fool." The word's history lies in another insult. It comes from muttonhead, another Americanism that also means essentially "fool." Muttonhead had been around since the early 19th century but it was not unlike an older insult with the same meaning: people had been calling one another "sheep's heads" since the mid-16th century.

Examples of mutt in a Sentence

it's an expensive camera, and I'd rather not turn it over to some mutt
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The toilet does the heavy work automatically with an electromechanical system, so all the owner of said waste has to do is grab the sealed, odorless bag and drop it in the garbage, much like a mutt mitt. New Atlas, 15 May 2025 Remember when this series started, the Nuggets were heavy underdogs, viewed as mutts. Troy Renck, Denver Post, 11 May 2025 What the end of this Kings series affirmed is that the Oilers have a pound’s worth of mutts ready to step up. Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 2 May 2025 Jones said both of his new cars – a BMW iX and a Polestar 3 – seem higher quality than his Teslas and comfortably haul his two massive dogs, a 170-pound Newfoundland and a 70-pound mutt. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mutt

Word History

Etymology

short for muttonhead dull-witted person

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mutt was in 1899

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Cite this Entry

“Mutt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mutt. Accessed 28 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

mutt

noun
: a mongrel dog : cur

More from Merriam-Webster on mutt

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