boneheadedness

noun

as in obtuseness
the quality or state of lacking intelligence or quickness of mind the sheer boneheadedness shown by the state's politicians, who have ignored the problem for decades

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 boneheadedness The pressure brought forth both boneheadedness and brilliance. — The Athletic Staff, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boneheadedness
  1. dumbness
  2. thickness
  3. stupidness
  4. stupidity
  5. dullness
  6. slowness
  7. denseness
  8. foolishness
Noun
  • The first 10 minutes are an incredible swirl of paranoia, alcoholism, and sluggish dumbness when Gould just needs to feed his cat.
    — Eric Farwell, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026
  • Unlike its sibling concepts of dumbness and idiocy, stupidity isn’t really a personality trait.
    — Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 11 Feb. 2026
Definition of dumbness
Noun
  • While the polyester fabric isn’t ideal, I was impressed by the coat’s thickness and weight, which gave it a more luxurious feel than typical poly-blend coats.
    — Irene Richardson, InStyle, 29 Sep. 2026
  • By adjusting the concentration of ions and the thickness of the ionogel, the team created devices with different response speeds.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of thickness
Noun
  • In an email to Krebs, Valadon claimed that the repo’s commit logs show that GitHub’s default protections against committing secrets—protections designed to protect unwitting or unskilled developers against exactly this kind of stupidness—had been disabled by the repo’s administrator.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 19 May 2026
Definition of stupidness
Noun
  • Learning that countless more people will lose their lives on account of his neglect, greed, and stupidity, he is pressed, reluctantly, into a most self-serving mode of damage control.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Nerdiest song for drummers This will probably come down to stupidity.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of stupidity
Noun
  • The slim, cordless device emits red and near-infrared light at wavelengths ranging from 625 to 850 nanometers to support collagen production and, with consistent use, help soften the look of fine lines, dullness, and loss of firmness.
    — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Neurocosmetic skincare is everywhere in 2026, with prestige brands and beauty editors promising formulas that work on the brain-skin axis to calm redness, dullness and reactivity.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of dullness
Noun
  • This will mean increased overhead and slowness in deployment but will require sourcing leaders to shift their focus from efficiency to aligning AI to risk mitigation in end-to-end supply chain networks.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 20 Sep. 2026
  • The slowness certainly hasn’t been for a lack of effort from either side this summer.
    — Pierre LeBrun, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of slowness
Noun
  • Tiernan is tall but carries the denseness of frame and core strength of a guard.
    — Matthew Mowery, Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Understand how rye works in baking Though dark, dense rye bread is delicious, rye flour does not inherently create denseness in other baked goods.
    — The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of denseness
Noun
  • Whittingham demands toughness, doesn’t tolerate any foolishness and rarely loses in a battle of wills.
    — Austin Meek, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Plausible deniability is the escape hatch for all the foolishness.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of foolishness

Browse Nearby Words

boneheaded
boneheadedness
boneheads
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Boneheadedness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boneheadedness. Accessed 5 Oct. 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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of perseverate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All