half-baked

adjective

ˈhaf-ˈbākt 

ˈhäf-

1

a

: poorly developed or carried out

a half-baked idea

half-baked research

b

: lacking adequate planning or forethought

a half-baked scheme for getting rich

c

: lacking in judgment, intelligence, or common sense

2

: imperfectly baked : underdone

Synonyms

• absurd
• asinine
• balmy
• brainless
• bubbleheaded
• cockeyed
• crackpot
• crazy
• cuckoo
• daffy
• daft
• dippy
• dotty
• fatuous
• featherheaded
• fool
• foolish
• half-witted
• harebrained
• inept
• insane
• jerky
• kooky
• kookie
• loony
• looney
• lunatic
• lunkheaded
• mad
• nonsensical
• nutty
• preposterous
• sappy
• screwball
• senseless
• silly
• simpleminded
• stupid
• tomfool
• unwise
• wacky
• whacky
• weak-minded
• witless
• zany

Examples of half-baked in a Sentence

he's always got some half-baked "solution" to a difficult, complex problem

Recent Examples on the Web

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an ambitious revival that makes for a good starting point for the series, even when some of its new ideas feel half-baked. —Diego Argüello, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2025

But Spider-Verse is a new-model superhero movie, which means the story of Miles Morales is also the story of Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), a shaggy older version of the familiar hero, struggling through a half-baked midlife crisis. —Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025

Random, half-baked Rust Cohle Easter Eggs were bad enough. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025

Kay, La Greca and Rosenberg regularly heard hot takes and half-baked opinions from callers, but few elicited a response like the one by Gil from Bensonhurst in October 2019. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1621, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

half-baked

adjective

-ˈbākt

1

a

: poorly developed or carried out

a half-baked plan

b

: lacking in judgment or common sense

half-baked ideas

2

: imperfectly baked : underdone