boneheaded

as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily a product with a warning label that even the most boneheaded consumer should be able to understand

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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 boneheaded My most most boneheaded comment. Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 16 June 2026 And there was always something frustrating, always kind of a boneheaded play or a draft pick or something that just kept us from [winning]. Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026 Vile’s shaggy-dog spirituality reaches new heights of beautiful, boneheaded simplicity on his latest. Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2026 As anyone who watches nineties-era romantic comedies knows, there’s a fine line between charming overtures and boneheaded actions that result in deep psychological wounds. Frederick Dreier, Outside, 11 Feb. 2026 Defensively, he has been known for making exceptional plays but also making boneheaded mistakes. Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025 Why sane people don’t run for office, a boneheaded move from an Arizona lawmaker and fallout from a Minnesota shooting. Joanna Allhands, AZCentral.com, 29 Aug. 2025 But despite the intelligence upgrade, some have spotted the AI model still making boneheaded mistakes. PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025 Unfortunately for Leslie, Gary is terrible at poker, and his boneheaded bet during the relationship test leaves them in the bottom three. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boneheaded
Adjective
  • Still crazy enough to do something dumb, but mature enough to curb your impulses.
    Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026
  • Instead of the Tech Right making the conservative movement smarter, the conservative movement seemed to be making the Tech Right dumber.
    Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026
Adjective
  • There are plenty of videos from Yellowstone National Park involving tourists doing breathtakingly stupid things around wild animals.
    Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 July 2026
  • Even when Romanzy goes off on how stupid and ugly Caleb is — and gossips that his parents abandoned him because something must be wrong with him — Mary goes along with it.
    Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 11 July 2026
Adjective
  • After the shooting, the victim’s car was seen on surveillance footage driving in slow circles as federal agents appeared to try and stop the vehicle.
    Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
  • Thus far, capital markets more broadly have been slow to respond to this threat for a variety of reasons.
    Justin Worland, Time, 18 July 2026
Adjective
  • One solution would be a relatively simple expansion of the southern end of the Stadium of Light to mirror the height of the west and north.
    Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Food safety experts say a few simple habits can make a difference.
    Olivia LaBorde, AJC.com, 21 July 2026
Adjective
  • And that’s a lot of energy to shed as a vehicle comes blaring back into Earth’s thick atmosphere, a process that typically annihilates objects returning from space unless they are precisely designed to survive the trip.
    Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 16 July 2026
  • The water drew back from the house, left a thick, stinking silt across the floor.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 July 2026
Adjective
  • Johnson continued this week to push for his foolish and counterproductive desire to impose a $33-per-month tax on each Chicago job generated by the city’s largest private-sector employers.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026
  • As is, this is a foolish thriller that prompts the occasional snicker but not much more.
    Randy Myers, Mercury News, 9 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Boneheaded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boneheaded. Accessed 23 Jul. 2026.

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