numbskull
noun
numb·skull
ˈnəm-ˌskəl 
variants
or less commonly numskull
1
: a dull or stupid person : dunce
2
: a thick or muddled head
Examples of numbskull in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This movie felt your pain and offered an appealing fantasy in which a few endearing numbskulls could somehow get their act together and stun the world.
—
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 25 July 2025
And the Fed Board has done nothing to stop this 'numbskull' from hurting so many people.
—Anna Commander
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 July 2025
The worker who gets on the AI train learns to ask the right questions, and the numbskull of a skilled worker does not.
—Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025
Scott, likewise, packs his divisive prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, with a bunch of disposable and largely unsympathetic numbskulls.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
Fey didn’t write this uneven comedy, but it’s got some of the same sophisticated satire of big-city elites that 30 Rock exudes, and Martin has a ball playing a pompous numbskull who doesn’t know that ponytails have been over for more than a decade.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024
Contra-stereotype, Finkel estimates that only ten per cent of meatheads are numbskulls.
—Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
Sure, any numbskull can pour a bag of iron filings into a jug of Tide (trust me, my wife is still screaming).
—David H Freedman, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2012
Four women enjoying a retreat at a secluded lakeside cabin are attacked by three numbskulls and turn the tables on them, becoming the torturers.
—Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 1 Apr. 2018
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Tim Grierson, Vulture, 25 July 2025
And the Fed Board has done nothing to stop this 'numbskull' from hurting so many people.
—Anna Commander
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 July 2025
The worker who gets on the AI train learns to ask the right questions, and the numbskull of a skilled worker does not.
—Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025
Scott, likewise, packs his divisive prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, with a bunch of disposable and largely unsympathetic numbskulls.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
Fey didn’t write this uneven comedy, but it’s got some of the same sophisticated satire of big-city elites that 30 Rock exudes, and Martin has a ball playing a pompous numbskull who doesn’t know that ponytails have been over for more than a decade.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024
Contra-stereotype, Finkel estimates that only ten per cent of meatheads are numbskulls.
—Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
Sure, any numbskull can pour a bag of iron filings into a jug of Tide (trust me, my wife is still screaming).
—David H Freedman, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2012
Four women enjoying a retreat at a secluded lakeside cabin are attacked by three numbskulls and turn the tables on them, becoming the torturers.
—Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 1 Apr. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Numbskull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/numbskull. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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