the.com/dimwit
A brain running on airplane mode while insisting the wifi is fine.
means An insulting term for a person regarded as stupid or slow-witted.
from A straightforward compound from the early 1900s: 'dim,' meaning faint or lacking brightness, fused with 'wit,' the old word for the mind's sharpness or intelligence (as in 'keep your wits about you'). Put them together and you get a mind whose light is turned down low — the same dimness-as-stupidity logic behind cousins like 'dim bulb' and 'not too bright.'
- origin
- Dim meaning dull, wit meaning mind, 1920s slang
- not clinical
- Insult, not a diagnosis, despite confident usage
- cousin words
- Nitwit, halfwit, dullard, all basically siblings
- ironic twist
- Calling someone one rarely requires much wit either