stupid

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a person who is not very bright
  2. adjective lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
  3. adjective in a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from shock

Etymology

From Middle French stupide, from Latin stupidus (“struck senseless, amazed”), from stupeō (“be amazed or confounded, be struck senseless”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tup-, *(s)tewp- (“to push, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew- (“to push, hit”). Cognate with Old High German stubarōn (“to be astonished, be stunned, be blocked”). Related also to Old English stoppian (“to block, stop”). More at stop.

In classic literature

Synonyms

stupid person, stupe, dullard, dolt, pudding head, pudden-head, poor fish, pillock

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