birdbrain

noun

ˈbərd-ˌbrān How to pronounce birdbrain (audio)
Definition of birdbrainnext
1
as in goose
a silly flighty person those birdbrains who eagerly adopt every fad diet that comes along

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in moron
a stupid person some birdbrain left the water running

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of birdbrain Some cowardly birdbrain dropping Ku Klux Klan fliers in a quiet, suburban neighborhood may not be earth-shattering news. — Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2018 Calling someone a birdbrain meant there wasn’t much going on upstairs. — National Geographic, 15 May 2016 By solving one kind of puzzle that stumped crows, though, the kids may have shown how a human mind treats problems differently than a birdbrain. — Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 26 July 2012
Recent Examples of Synonyms for birdbrain
  1. goose
  2. moron
  3. cuckoo
  4. stupid
  5. ditz
  6. fool
  7. silly
  8. nitwit
Noun
  • Unlike caviar, though, Chinese foie gras will also face headwinds in America as animal-rights activists continue fighting to get the duck and goose liver banned.
    — Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 13 July 2026
  • The scribe carefully inscribed each line with a quill made from a goose feather, while their other hand wielded an erasing knife used to sharpen the quill and scrape away any mistakes.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
Definition of goose
Noun
  • Mantzoukas was willing to look like a maniac and a moron in equal measure.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 June 2026
  • Lluís then calls Puig Antich a moron.
    — Colm Tóibín, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2026
Definition of moron
Noun
  • One experiment, conducted in England, looked at how people understand the diminishment of ordinary bird species like the common cuckoo and the house sparrow.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
  • My favorite depictions of this city know its real history is too cuckoo to capture sincerely; straight reenactments make the production of 35mm masterpieces look as piddly as Shrinky Dinks.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of cuckoo
Noun
  • My dad has always said the lottery is a tax on the stupid.
    — Alex Crippen, CNBC, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Problem is, even people who know baseball don’t know baseball, which makes betting on baseball stupid.
    — Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
Definition of stupid
Noun
  • There’s a tramp, a ditz, a bad boss, a hippie, a by-the-book good girl.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Rather than stay pigeonholed as a ditz, Simpson (who just released new music for the first time in 15 years) went on to launch her own fashion brand, which hit $1 billion in sales in 2015 and is still going strong today.
    — EW Staff, EW.com, 20 Mar. 2025
Definition of ditz
Noun
  • Don’t let the thin sole fool you though, the structure is still quite supportive and keeps your feet cushioned.
    — Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 11 July 2026
  • Being a gent or a supplicant wasn’t the same as being a fool, though.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 June 2026
Definition of fool
Noun
  • But no, sillies: Bradley is white, famous and pretty — no jail time for her!
    — Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 17 Sep. 2025
  • It was shot in portrait because it was shot in Instagram by and for a woman who was losing her mind in quarantine and had fully let the sillies take the wheel.
    — Ego Nwodim, TIME, 12 Feb. 2025
Definition of silly
Noun
  • Occasionally, some nitwit will play chicken with the offending lane changer, get in front of him or her, and stop the car in the middle of the road to continue with verbal and nonverbal critique of the offender’s driving skills.
    — Oc Register, Oc Register, 18 May 2026
  • In each show, the two nitwits would set out on some caper, which would inevitably go horribly wrong, leaving them broke, or tied up, or in jail, or hanging over a cliff, or some other situation of great peril.
    — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of nitwit

Browse Nearby Words

bird's-eye
birdbrain
birdbrained
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Birdbrain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birdbrain. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All