dunce
Meaning
An unintelligent person.
Synonyms
stupid person
loggerhead
doltish person
African wild ass
dim-wit
stupid fellow
domestic ass
dull person
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/dʌns/
Etymology
1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308). 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.
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