nitwit

noun

nit·​wit ˈnit-ˌwit 

: a scatterbrained or stupid person

Synonyms

• berk [British]
• booby
• charlie [British]
• charley
• cuckoo
• ding-a-ling
• ding-dong
• dingbat
• dipstick
• doofus [slang]
• featherhead
• fool
• git [British]
• goose
• half-wit
• jackass
• lunatic
• mooncalf
• nincompoop
• ninny
• ninnyhammer
• nit [chiefly British]
• nut
• nutcase
• simp
• simpleton
• turkey
• yo-yo

Examples of nitwit in a Sentence

Don't be such a nitwit.

don't be a nitwit—wear a seat belt!

Recent Examples on the Web

At one point, in the role of a former C.I.A. agent, Walter Lloyd, Hackman stubs a gun under the nose of a hapless nitwit from the agency who has been sent to protect Walter and his family. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Stan Brooks: That’s the pumping-iron term for somebody who’s kind of a nitwit. —Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024

The white supremacist rally that interrupted the mayor's lunch in Howell on Saturday wasn't overly impressive, really — just a dozen or so nitwits, and one ghost. —Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2024

The nitwits were chased off by a woman from the local library board. —Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2024

This childish nitwit called the judge deciding his case a Nazi, which earned him an extra five months in the J6 choir. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 June 2024

Dunst sleepwalks through this noxious comedy based on Toby Young’s 2001 memoir of the same name, playing a writer who takes a reluctant liking to Pegg’s infantile nitwit. —Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024

Or is the old guy in the golf cart supposed to be a square, privileged nitwit parroting MAGA nonsense? —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 2 May 2024

Yet the nitwits across the street, who clutter their lawn with Christmas blow-up dolls, have won the contest four years in a row. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 3 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

probably from German dialect nit not + English wit

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

nitwit

noun

nit·​wit ˈnit-ˌwit 

: a stupid or silly person