doofus

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doo·fus

or du·fus (do͞o′fəs)

n. pl. doo·fus·es or du·fus·es Slang

An incompetent, foolish, or stupid person.

[Perhaps blend of doof, fool (from Scots) and goofus, fool (from goof).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

doofus

(ˈduːfəs)

informal chiefly US a slow-witted or stupid person

[C20: from Black slang]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

doo•fus

or du•fus

(ˈdu fəs)
n., pl. -fus•es.

Slang. a foolish or inept person.

[1960–65, Amer.; probably alter. of earlier goofus; compare goof]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

doofus - a stupid incompetent person

dimwit, nitwit, half-wit

colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech

simpleton, simple - a person lacking intelligence or common sense

Translations

doofus

n (US inf) → doofer Typ, Blödmann m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in periodicals archive ?

Penguin is a lovable doofus, forever hungry and discombobulated.

Mr. Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets

Boris Johnson is a wolf in sheep's clothing - his sheep shirt scruffily untucked from his sheep trousers, to further promote the loveable doofus angle, obviously - but he was quite amusing on Have I Got News For You once, so whatevs.

Hair's the way to run the country

So who was the doofus who informed Greyworm that Jon was the actual Brutus behind the stabbing?

Our watch has ended

Shame he got fired at the end of the episode though as he, while admittedly a doofus, was one of the more affable candidates on offer.

bevan on the box; casts a critical eye over the week's tv

He's developed a particular persona - and the suspicion is that it's very much a persona - of a fun-loving, good natured doofus, think Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a (vaguely) human form, and has parlayed that into a side career as a commercial spokesperson He's already briefly appeared in the film You Can't Have It and, like 90% of all human beings with even a remote claim to fame, appeared on Entourage.

Is Rob Gronkowski going to be the next American action hero?

I kind of think you're a doofus." Who is Dean Yeagle?

I Dream I Am Walking the Streets of an Unknown Metropolis with Anthony Bourdain and He Thinks Me a Bit of a Doofus

A dingus is like a goof, but not an idiot and not to be confused with a doofus. And it looks like Henry is going to have to spend the summer figuring out how to embrace his inner dingus.

Dingus

It makes them look like a total doofus if they're doing it for an extended period of time," Keslin explained.

'Pokemon Go' Developer Teases Next AR Game

But it's understandably hard to convince anyone that the growly, scary-looking dog is actually a big, friendly doofus. My son managed it with his co-workers, largely on the strength of their faith in him as a dog-handler (as evidenced by Cole's impeccable behavior), but, as my son described it in his dry way, "It wasn't ideal." I've been working on this, but Woody and I are about to start work on it in a big way.

Away from me: absence absolutely does make the heart grow fonder, but it can also teach you a few things about your dogs

"Any adult who puts on a cap risks looking like a clueless doofus" - extract from an article in the Financial Times, referring to Jeremy Corbyn's headgear.

They say..

But if you truly, ultimately value a large bank balance over meaningful experiences, you're what's known in the psychological literature as a doofus.