Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A stupid person; a dolt.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun [capitalized] A disciple or follower of John Duns Scotus (see etymology); a Dunce-man; a Scotist.
- noun Hence A caviling, sophistical person; a senseless caviler.
- noun A dull-witted, stupid person; a dolt; an ignoramus.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One backward in book learning; a
child or other persondull orweak inintellect ; adullard ; adolt .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a stupid person; these words are used to express a low opinion of someone's intelligence
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I watched bush mutilate the english language, lie, make sht up, and just be himself for eight years (freakin dunce).
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I watched bush mutilate the english language, lie, make sht up, and just be himself for eight years (freakin dunce).
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If we're paying for two failed stadiums as the years roll on Randy, Sam and Dan will be in dunce caps in their official portraits.
Before Henry Merritt and Charles Randy's New York honeymoon (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009
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In other words, a dunce is ... a hyper-specialized professor, the very same type of person graduate schools tend to churn out intentionally.
Pope and the Canon Richard Nokes 2005
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In other words, a dunce is ... a hyper-specialized professor, the very same type of person graduate schools tend to churn out intentionally.
Archive 2005-11-01 Richard Nokes 2005
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If this dunce is the “Ultimate Troll” … does that mean once he’s banned, TP will be troll free?
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Recall the dunce caps and public confessions of the Cultural Revolution error.
Female Chinese Land Seizure Protesters Stripped Naked & Jailed 2008
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When it was time to leave primary school to start secondary school, it was a huge relief, when mercifully, Anthony was placed in what was known as the dunce's class and it was only the odd occasion when they bumped into each other.
Archive 2007-07-01 Linda 2007
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When it was time to leave primary school to start secondary school, it was a huge relief, when mercifully, Anthony was placed in what was known as the dunce's class and it was only the odd occasion when they bumped into each other.
The Healer - short story Linda 2007
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He has also been called a dunce, an ignoramus, a barbarian.
Luther Examined and Reexamined A Review of Catholic Criticism and a Plea for Revaluation 1904
rolig commented on the word dunce
Originally an epithet for followers of John Duns Scotus, who were ridiculed as enemies of learning by 16th-century humanists.
December 16, 2007
pomegranate commented on the word dunce
That's a sandworm, you idiot!
January 30, 2008
bilby commented on the word dunce
SCOTUS also a dunce? Discuss.
December 6, 2023