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dingbat

/ˌdɪŋˈbæt/
IPA guide

Other forms: dingbats

A dingbat is an idiot: a person who's dumb, silly, or just empty-headed.

There are a lot of insulting words for someone who isn't very smart: moron, dummy, knucklehead, bonehead, etc. Another is dingbat. A dingbat isn't simply dumb, but also ditzy. On the sitcom “All in the Family,” Archie Bunker often called his wife Edith a dingbat. This is an insult, but it's humorous and not that offensive. Dingbats are also characters or ornaments used in typesetting that don't have any meaning. Those dingbats are also a little silly.

Definitions of dingbat
  1. noun
    a silly empty-headed person
    “you would be a dingbat even to try it”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    simple, simpleton
    a person lacking intelligence or common sense
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