dunce

1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308).[1] Scotus was ironically a well-known Scottish thinker; his followers, however, opposed the philosophers of the Renaissance, and thus "dunce" was first used to describe someone rejecting new knowledge in 1530; later, any person deemed stupid.[1]

• IPA^(key): /dʌns/

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• Rhymes: -ʌns

dunce (plural dunces)

1. An unintelligent person.

   Synonyms: idiot; see also Thesaurus:idiot

   • c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, “Thoughts on Various Subjects”, in The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, volume 5:

     When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.

   • 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XXX:

     [...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!

• dunce cap
• duncedom
• dunce hat
• duncehood
• duncelike
• duncely
• duncish/dunceish

• “dunce”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.