numbskull

noun

numb·​skull ˈnəm-ˌskəl 

variants or less commonly numskull

1

: a dull or stupid person : dunce

2

: a thick or muddled head

Examples of numbskull in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Movies like Eddington and The Mastermind also render their white male protagonists as ill-prepared and ineffectual numbskulls incapable of confronting their era’s racial and social politics. —Robert Daniels, Time, 10 Oct. 2025

That’s all fine and dandy, but watching these two numbskulls, like Pinky and the Brain with lobotomies, try to take down Tamra is not fun. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025

Churchill’s numbskull move immediately made all the exports of his highly export-dependent nation more expensive to buyers in other countries. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 10 Aug. 2025

And the Fed Board has done nothing to stop this 'numbskull' from hurting so many people. —Anna Commander gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 July 2025

The worker who gets on the AI train learns to ask the right questions, and the numbskull of a skilled worker does not. —Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

numb entry 1 + skull entry 1

First Known Use

1697, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for numbskull

• seagull
• cull
• dull
• gul
• gull
• lull
• ndebele
• null
• scull
• skull
• stull
• trull

Kids Definition

numbskull

variant of numskull