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
David and Tatro don’t have enough moments together as father and son, though Tatro is enjoyable throughout as the posturing numbskull Jimmy Boy.
—
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
The chair of the Federal Reserve has kept quiet over the past year as President Trump has repeatedly attacked him—often with crude language (think moron, numbskull, dumb, and loser).
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
The chaos started when a numbskull looking for trouble showed up yelling profane unpleasantries about Kirk.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026
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
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Brian Truitt, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
The chair of the Federal Reserve has kept quiet over the past year as President Trump has repeatedly attacked him—often with crude language (think moron, numbskull, dumb, and loser).
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
The chaos started when a numbskull looking for trouble showed up yelling profane unpleasantries about Kirk.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026
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
Cite this Entry
“Numbskull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/numbskull. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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