loon

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a worthless lazy fellow
  2. noun large somewhat primitive fish-eating diving bird of the northern hemisphere having webbed feet placed far back; related to the grebes
  3. noun a person with confused ideas; incapable of serious thought

Etymology

From Middle English louen, lowen (“rascal; rogue”), probably of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. Compare Dutch loen (“simpleton”). Or, related to etymology 2, due to the bird's loud cry. Folk etymology associates it slang-wise with lunatic, though the latter may have influenced it; see loony.

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