nitwit
Meaning
A scatterbrained or stupid person.
Synonyms
smoking pipe
turkey
stupid person
addle-head
shlepper
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈnɪtwɪt/
Etymology
First attested in the 1910s in the US Northeast. Likely from German nit, dialectal form of nichts (“nothing”), or Yiddish ניט (nit), dialectal form of נישט (nisht, “no”), although some dictionaries give the alternative etymology nit (“louse egg; something very small”) + wit.
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Notes