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
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
Scott, likewise, packs his divisive prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, with a bunch of disposable and largely unsympathetic numbskulls.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
Fey didn’t write this uneven comedy, but it’s got some of the same sophisticated satire of big-city elites that 30 Rock exudes, and Martin has a ball playing a pompous numbskull who doesn’t know that ponytails have been over for more than a decade.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024
Contra-stereotype, Finkel estimates that only ten per cent of meatheads are numbskulls.
—Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
Sure, any numbskull can pour a bag of iron filings into a jug of Tide (trust me, my wife is still screaming).
—David H Freedman, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2012
Four women enjoying a retreat at a secluded lakeside cabin are attacked by three numbskulls and turn the tables on them, becoming the torturers.
—Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 1 Apr. 2018
Thank you to US press and other numbskulls who put him there.
—Colin Stutz, Billboard, 1 June 2017
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.
Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025
Scott, likewise, packs his divisive prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, with a bunch of disposable and largely unsympathetic numbskulls.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
Fey didn’t write this uneven comedy, but it’s got some of the same sophisticated satire of big-city elites that 30 Rock exudes, and Martin has a ball playing a pompous numbskull who doesn’t know that ponytails have been over for more than a decade.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024
Contra-stereotype, Finkel estimates that only ten per cent of meatheads are numbskulls.
—Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
Sure, any numbskull can pour a bag of iron filings into a jug of Tide (trust me, my wife is still screaming).
—David H Freedman, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2012
Four women enjoying a retreat at a secluded lakeside cabin are attacked by three numbskulls and turn the tables on them, becoming the torturers.
—Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 1 Apr. 2018
Thank you to US press and other numbskulls who put him there.
—Colin Stutz, Billboard, 1 June 2017
Cite this Entry
“Numbskull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/numbskull. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share