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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nincompoop Korda has declared that, because his nine sons are, frankly, nincompoops and rapscallions, Liesl will be the sole heir to his fortune. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2025 Paired alongside Williams and Dunst’s airheads, Ferrell plays a nincompoop Bob Woodward, but the role doesn’t give him much of a chance to cut loose. Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025 Being a nature nincompoop may have saved him from a grisly fate. Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 19 Jan. 2025 With all due respect, those people are nincompoops. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, 2 July 2024 As Jimmy, the chief pushover, Jimmy, Norman makes for a sympathetic enough nincompoop. Chris Willman, Variety, 16 June 2024 Only one police officer pops up there, a smiley nincompoop who sucks down children’s birthday cake from behind a desk and shrugs his way through conversation. Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2024 Somebody else could have gotten away with doing half as much, but Ruffalo proves a compound nincompoop. Wesley Morris, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024 Tom was of course not a nincompoop, but a serious, thoughtful person who hungered to add substance to sketch comedy. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nincompoop
Noun
  • These could be people that play Devil’s advocate or, like Shakespeare’s fools, challenge ideas and thinking.
    George Bradt, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
  • Flecks of mica and pyrite and who knows what, but only fools and greenhorns mistake it for gold.
    John Archibald, Southern Living, 25 May 2025
Noun
  • To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.
    Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 12 May 2025
  • And here a duck has made her nest Six brown eggs in a bed of twigs, More artful than any window display, More precious than a golden egg Laid by a golden goose.
    contributing Monitor poets, Christian Science Monitor, 23 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Sometimes too stupid is actually smartski but sometimes is just stupid stupid.
    Caroline Downey, National Review, 27 Mar. 2025
  • An underrated gem — not enough people have seen this top-tier season — Squirrels Trip has some fabulous vocals, very funny lyrics, a heavy dose of stupid, and an engaging story.
    Barry Levitt, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Nincompoop.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nincompoop. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.

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