half-witted

adjective

Definition of half-wittednext
1
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily the young genius mastered calculus while his peers, who seemed half-witted in comparison, labored over basic addition and subtraction

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment had the half-witted idea to try to swim across the raging river, and would have drowned if someone hadn't rescued him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for half-witted
  1. dumb
  2. foolish
  3. stupid
  4. silly
  5. slow
  6. absurd
  7. simple
  8. mad
Adjective
  • Perhaps in writing it, Salinger was trying to negotiate whether his remarkable survival through some of the war’s worst gauntlets could be chalked up to dumb luck, or divine intervention.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Approaching the plant, there are no telltale dumb-bell silhouettes on the horizon signaling its presence.
    — Ramy Inocencio, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of dumb
Adjective
  • All of this is to say that where liabilities are involved, don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
    — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • As some of us will inevitably succumb to its grand and growing illusion, the rest may get the opportunity to find the key to understanding how so many others could be fooled and so foolish.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of foolish
Adjective
  • The Dodge Durango Hellcat is the most accessible way to go stupid-fast in a three-row family car thanks to the Escalade V‘s high price tag.
    — Byron Hurd, The Drive, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Proudly stupid and surprisingly sweet, Dylan Meyer’s stoner buddy comedy is a tribute to friendship best enjoyed with your own ride-or-die by your side — joints optional.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of stupid
Adjective
  • But to make some generalization that all career women are psychotic because Glenn Close happened to be psychotic at the end of that movie is just silly.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Residents riding on two wheels in Overland Park might see some new silly signs along the city’s most popular paths and trails.
    — Taylor O'Connor August 12, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of silly
Adjective
  • Researchers used the device to process time-series data, including signals that contained both rapid and slow changes.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 Aug. 2026
  • However, there is another, slower and more insidious evacuation taking place, and that is the steady migration from rural areas all around the world to burgeoning cities, which now host more than half the world’s population.
    — John Vaillant, Time, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of slow
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO and amplifier of the most absurd of MAGA’s many election-denying claims, was defeated convincingly in his bid for the GOP nomination for governor.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Those black rectangles in Study for a Black Drawing are absurd attempts at the ideal void.
    — Aaron Fagan, Artforum, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of absurd
Adjective
  • The task seemed like a simple one for a digital agent, as the booking form was online.
    — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Mungiu refuses to supply easy answers or simple paths to identification in this compelling provocation, which poses unresolvable questions to viewers about our biases and presumptions.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of simple
Adjective
  • There was also a stream of characters who visited the island, from a pop group to a movie producer, a mad scientist, and Russian cosmonauts.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2026
  • There are a few pages spent on Deflategate (that made Brady mad), only a few paragraphs devoted to Aaron Hernandez, none on Spygate.
    — Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of mad
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.

Browse Nearby Words

half-wits
half-witted
half-wittedness
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Cite this Entry

“Half-witted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/half-witted. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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