nincompoop
noun
nin·com·poop
ˈnin-kəm-ˌpüp 
ˈniŋ-
plural nincompoops
informal
nincompoopery
ˈnin-kəm-ˌpü-pə-rē
noun
ˈniŋ-
Each day's news seems to bring ever more horrific stories of greed, incompetence, arrogance, excess, deceit … and inconceivable nincompoopery …
—
The Hightower Lowdown
The Hightower Lowdown
Examples of nincompoop in a Sentence
The people running that company are a bunch of nincompoops!
quit acting like a nincompoop, because I know you are smarter than that
Recent Examples on the Web
Paired alongside Williams and Dunst’s airheads, Ferrell plays a nincompoop Bob Woodward, but the role doesn’t give him much of a chance to cut loose.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Being a nature nincompoop may have saved him from a grisly fate.
—Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 19 Jan. 2025
With all due respect, those people are nincompoops.
—Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, 2 July 2024
As Jimmy, the chief pushover, Jimmy, Norman makes for a sympathetic enough nincompoop.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 16 June 2024
Only one police officer pops up there, a smiley nincompoop who sucks down children’s birthday cake from behind a desk and shrugs his way through conversation.
—Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2024
Somebody else could have gotten away with doing half as much, but Ruffalo proves a compound nincompoop.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024
Tom was of course not a nincompoop, but a serious, thoughtful person who hungered to add substance to sketch comedy.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023
One wonders what those worthless nincompoops would have done during the Nazi holocaust that murdered upward of seven million Jews, and over seven million more victims besides.
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 26 Oct. 2023
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Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Being a nature nincompoop may have saved him from a grisly fate.
—Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 19 Jan. 2025
With all due respect, those people are nincompoops.
—Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, 2 July 2024
As Jimmy, the chief pushover, Jimmy, Norman makes for a sympathetic enough nincompoop.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 16 June 2024
Only one police officer pops up there, a smiley nincompoop who sucks down children’s birthday cake from behind a desk and shrugs his way through conversation.
—Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2024
Somebody else could have gotten away with doing half as much, but Ruffalo proves a compound nincompoop.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024
Tom was of course not a nincompoop, but a serious, thoughtful person who hungered to add substance to sketch comedy.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023
One wonders what those worthless nincompoops would have done during the Nazi holocaust that murdered upward of seven million Jews, and over seven million more victims besides.
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 26 Oct. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Nincompoop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nincompoop. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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