variants
or numbskull
as in idiot
a stupid person
don't be such a numskull—you know he was only kidding
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of numskull
The chaos started when a numbskull looking for trouble showed up yelling profane unpleasantries about Kirk.
—
Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026
Movies like Eddington and The Mastermind also render their white male protagonists as ill-prepared and ineffectual numbskulls incapable of confronting their era’s racial and social politics.
—Robert Daniels, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
That’s all fine and dandy, but watching these two numbskulls, like Pinky and the Brain with lobotomies, try to take down Tamra is not fun.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Yes, the protagonist is a numskull.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2022
Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026
Movies like Eddington and The Mastermind also render their white male protagonists as ill-prepared and ineffectual numbskulls incapable of confronting their era’s racial and social politics.
—Robert Daniels, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
That’s all fine and dandy, but watching these two numbskulls, like Pinky and the Brain with lobotomies, try to take down Tamra is not fun.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Yes, the protagonist is a numskull.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for numskull
Noun
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This drunk moron — quite different from his character in the novel — bears a ton of blame.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
-
The Dilbert principle — traced back to a quote in a 1995 strip — posited that managers and higher-ups are actually successful morons whose stubbornness is confused for real leadership qualities.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The scale of the headloss was best summed up by Luis Suarez attempting to reason with Messi, before the Argentine did anything on the Suarez scale of stupid.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
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But the new parking fees at Balboa Park are a whole new level of stupid.—
Inga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Numskull.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/numskull. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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