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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

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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 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
  • MILKist introduced the original recipe, but the women helped test thicknesses, drying methods, natural-color applications and other changes based on how each sheet would be used.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Try to remove about half the thickness of the previous grout.
    — Michelle Mastro, The Spruce, 20 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
  • This stupidity is tantamount to a cop issuing a summons to someone picking their nose in public to prove that crime is out of control.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The latest contestant in this recurring game of fiscal stupidity is Miami.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of stupidity
Noun
  • Upping the ante with a red light therapy device can also help reverse summer sun damage, support circulation to ward off seasonal dullness, and a little session under the glowing light can even boost your mood on shorter, gloomier days.
    — Jessie Quinn, StyleCaster, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Strollers have also long been associated with a certain, well, dullness.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 15 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
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Cite this Entry

“Boneheadedness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boneheadedness. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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