Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person regarded as silly or stupid.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a person with confused ideas; incapable of serious thought.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Someone who is not very smart or clever.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a person with confused ideas; incapable of serious thought

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the compound bird +‎ brain, implying that the brains of birds are small.

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Examples

  • And I like your "birdbrain" postcard ... enhanced it so I could read it.

    Birdbrains & Triptychs katelnorth 2007

  • So "birdbrain" is apparently as accurate an epithet as "eats like a bird" applies to delicate appetites.

    Bird brains Bas Bleu 2009

  • So "birdbrain" is apparently as accurate an epithet as "eats like a bird" applies to delicate appetites.

    Archive 2009-05-17 Bas Bleu 2009

  • Evidently the appelation "birdbrain" didn't bother her, as her bird brain was perhaps the most powerful brain in Xanth.

    Dragon on a Pedestal Anthony, Piers 1983

  • Econutjobs aren’t worried about PEOPLE, Jack … they worry about seals being harvested and birds landing on tarponds (hence the term birdbrain), but people … econutjobs think there are too many ‘rich’ people and not enough seals and birds. wilson Says:

    Why I Like Blogs Better Than The MSM « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008

  • I'm convinced that where most birds may travel in pairs, mourning doves, the reason the term "birdbrain" exists, travel in threes - Curly, Moe and Larry.

    OspreyBlogs 2009

  • She's not a "birdbrain," she said, but she is picking up the habit.

    unknown title 2009

  • What Steyn found interesting is that the people who prevented another terrorist attack on the United States after 9-11 are under threat of investigation, while "birdbrain" Janet Napolitano is in charge of Homeland Security.

    Media Matters for America - Limbaugh Wire 2009

  • Bush basically set the world on its head and will be known for the downfall of the USA and then you keep talking about birdbrain Palin as though she has something to offer.

    'I'm a little frumpy,' Obama says 2009

  • The only thing propping this birdbrain up is the media

    Palin set to let the tweets 'fly' 2009

Comments

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  • Are birds particularly stupid or confused?

    December 19, 2008

  • Actually, they're quite intelligent. I suspect that the person who coined this term believes that size matters, unfortunately.

    December 19, 2008

  • It most obviously does not apply to birds if one looks at the second WeirdNet definition...

    December 19, 2008

  • Exactly.

    December 19, 2008