half-witted

adjective

Definition of half-wittednext
1
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily the young genius mastered calculus while his peers, who seemed half-witted in comparison, labored over basic addition and subtraction

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment had the half-witted idea to try to swim across the raging river, and would have drowned if someone hadn't rescued him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for half-witted
  1. dumb
  2. foolish
  3. stupid
  4. silly
  5. slow
  6. absurd
  7. simple
  8. insane
Adjective
  • There are even times when an NFL coach will say or do something really dumb that makes news.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Our cybersecurity defenses were built for lone hackers and dumb swarms.
    — Michael Morris, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of dumb
Adjective
  • Soaking the suburbs over parking is reminiscent of other foolish, revenue-grabbing ideas, such as a congestion tax aimed at outsiders as a way to gin up money to cover Chicago’s ever-present budget black hole.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • With Oracle having lost more than $20 billion in stock-market value today, this appears to be penny-wise and pound foolish.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of foolish
Adjective
  • Trump’s super intelligence rebrand can ultimately be read in a couple ways, though arguably neither are particularly nuanced or incisive — just further indicative of the daily deluge of stupid.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Once upon a time, the idea that the world was growing stupider was mostly confined to the realm of dyspeptic reactionary polemic.
    — James Marriott, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of stupid
Adjective
  • With so many of its procedural plots echoing and sometimes directly referencing real-world events, Cupertino is more substantive and less inherently silly than Elsbeth.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Almost sounds silly now, with the way the team has stumbled and bumbled its way through the first four games.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of silly
Adjective
  • The slow rate at which this is occurring indicates this cosmic vampirism will last for hundreds of thousands to billions of years.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The problem is that these systems are slow, expensive and don’t scale.
    — Reynald Fasciaux, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of slow
Adjective
  • Alongside Kardashian, Watts, Nash-Betts and Paulson, the series stars Teyana Taylor, Matthew Noszka and Glenn Close, who all one-up each other with deliriously absurd lines of dialogue.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The title comes from a phrase that became part of his creative vocabulary and began appearing in sketches whenever an absurd situation called for a perfectly incredulous response.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of absurd
Adjective
  • That single choice unleashes a harrowing chain of strange and terrifying events in the dead of night, turning a simple gesture of kindness into a real-life nightmare.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Waffles and pimento Another enduring element of Chick-fil-A is its famously simple menu.
    — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of simple
Adjective
  • Derek wants to hear Julia audibly breathing next week, which is both a hilarious and insane request.
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Those questions triggered some insane accusations from Aces fans regarding the Fever fan and their fanbase.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of insane
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

half-wits
half-witted
half-wittedness
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Cite this Entry

“Half-witted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/half-witted. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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