dim-bulb
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Probably a reference to the use of a light bulb in cartoons and comics to indicate that a person has had a bright idea.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɪm ˌbʌlb/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Adjective
[edit]dim-bulb (not comparable)
- Slow-witted, stupid.
- Synonyms: dim, dim-headed, dim-witted, dumb
- 1966 December 23, “Walt Disney: Images of Innocence [obituary]”, in Time[1], archived from the original on 30 April 2009:
- In Snow White [and the Seven Dwarfs], [Walt] Disney and his staff met the challenge of creating believable characters. Each of the seven dwarfs, from sober-sided Doc to dim-bulb Dopey, had a distinct personality.
- 1990, Joe Bob Briggs [pseudonym; John Irving Bloom], The Cosmic Wisdom of Joe Bob Briggs, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 263:
- Up to now the guy's just a dim-bulb character who likes to dress up in a sailor suit and spoon creme broolay out of a bowl for a living.
- 2007, Chris Jennings Dixon, editor, Lesson Plans for Teaching Writing, Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, →ISBN, page 2:
- Well, long ago, a man named Aesop met a whole bunch of bossy, silly, funny, annoying, dim-bulb people, and he wanted to do something about it. He decided to write stories about these people, and end each story with a lesson […]
- 2017 October 27, Alex McLevy, “Making a Killing: The Brief Life and Bloody Death of the Post-Scream Slasher Revival”, in The A.V. Club[2], archived from the original on 5 March 2018:
- It’s harder to care about someone dying when you actively want them to disappear from the screen. And when the film itself proceeds so straightforwardly, and you know that even [Jennifer Love] Hewitt’s dim-bulb boyfriend (Freddie Prinze Jr.) will survive, much of the fun is lost.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:stupid
Antonyms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]slow-witted, stupid — see stupid