as in stupid
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
a comedy show that invariably portrays the British aristocracy as a bunch of gormless twits
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Recent Examples of gormless
Much like bad prose, his gormless suits draw far too much attention to themselves.
—
Hazlitt, 19 Dec. 2024
Much of the movie unfolds inside the suburban Connecticut mansion where Lily lives with her gormless mother (Francie Swift) and her loathsome stepdad.
—Justin Chang, latimes.com, 8 Mar. 2018
Hazlitt, 19 Dec. 2024
Much of the movie unfolds inside the suburban Connecticut mansion where Lily lives with her gormless mother (Francie Swift) and her loathsome stepdad.
—Justin Chang, latimes.com, 8 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gormless
Adjective
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His is a sort of erudite buffoonery that consistently tap-dances between clever, self-aware, and patently stupid.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2025
-
Each of them loses track of a CD filled with secrets, and some end up dying in the stupidest possible ways because of their incompetence.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.—
Daniel Jackson,
Allure,
18 July 2017
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Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.—
Andy Benoit,
The MMQB,
10 July 2017
Adjective
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The second came in April 2022, when Wall Street panicked over analysts’ predicting slow subscriber growth as Disney, HBO and NBCUniversal invested heavily in streaming.—
Ramin Setoodeh,
Variety,
19 Mar. 2025
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Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America Consumer spending has softened so far this year, however, which could lead to slower economic growth.—
Scott Horsley,
NPR,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Jenner wore a gray and lightly checked car coat, a simple black knit sweater, straight leg blue jeans, and black ballet flats.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
23 Mar. 2025
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Pair them with a simple T-shirt to grab a coffee at a cafe.—
Rylee Johnston,
Travel + Leisure,
23 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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On the posters and on the site, a two-word phrase — which fans have speculated is the title of Cyrus’ next album — is spelled out in thick white letters.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
17 Mar. 2025
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The toughest part involved fishing some stiff, thick wire through a space between the coolant tank and a metal bracket (which the manual warned about).—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The main romance is dull, but there’s plenty of fun slapstick and creative set-pieces in John Hughes’ script to make up for it.—
Barry Levitt,
TIME,
21 Mar. 2025
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Over time, excessive stimulation can lead to dysregulation of the reward system, making routine activities feel dull in comparison.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gormless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gormless. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.
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