the.com/dolt
A fool with just enough confidence to never notice.
means A slow-witted person — someone dull or stupid, usually in a way that's fairly harmless.
from First recorded in the 1500s, likely a variant of 'dulled' or related to 'dull' itself — the word carrying that same sense of a blade or a mind that just won't sharpen. Some link it to an older word for someone 'duld' or stunned, as if permanently a little dazed. The exact path is fuzzy, but the core image has stayed remarkably steady for 500 years: not malice, just a mind moving a beat behind everyone else's.
- origin
- From dull, same root as dolt and dote
- not synonym
- Dumber than naive, less sinister than idiot
- usage
- Affectionate insult, rarely a courtroom-grade accusation