stulbs

Latvian

From Proto-Baltic *stulb-, a variant of *stilb- (whence also Latvian stilbs (“shin, shank”), from Proto-Indo-European *stl̥b-, an ablaut variant of *stelb- (“post, pole, jamb”) (whence also stilbs, q.v.), from *stel- (“to put in a standing position, to erect; standing, immobile, stiff”) with an extra b. The semantic evolution was probably: “motionless, stiff” > “surprised, stunned” > “stupid”. Cognates include Lithuanian stul̃bis (“stupid person; old, bad horse”), stul̃bti, stùlbti (“to be stunned, dumbfounded; to become stiff with surprise or fear”), Proto-Slavic *stъlbъ (stŭlbŭ) (Russian столб (stolb, “post”)), Middle Low German stulpen (“to overthrow, to overturn, to topple”), German stolpern (“to stumble, to trip up”).^[1]

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stulbs (definite stulbais, comparative stulbāks, superlative visstulbākais, adverb stulbi)

stupid, dumb (mentally challenged, not able to comprehend, to understand; also, foolish)
stulbs kā zābaks ― stupid as a boot (i.e., very stupid)

Valentīna ir līdz smieklīgumam stulba; viņas nejēdzīgās atbildes stundās izsauc klasē smieklu šaltis ― Valentīna is ridiculously stupid; her absurd answers caused bursts of laughter in the classroom

es neesmu tik stulbs, lai nesaprastu, ka mani ļoti ļoti pieklājīgā veidā izraida ― I am not so stupid as not to understand that I am being thrown out in a very, very polite way
stupid, dumb (expressing such qualities)
stulbs skatiens ― stupid look, stare

stulba rīcība ― stupid action, behavior

stulbas kaprīzes ― stupid whims

es no visa esmu ieguvis, pat no ļaunu ļaužu stulbā naida ― I've received (some) of everything, even (some) of the people's stupid hate
(of actions, states) stupid (very undesirable, unwanted, inconvenient)
rīt ir tā stulbā sapulce ― tomorrow is that stupid meeting

“man tāds stulbs vārds,” viņš atzinās; “mani sauc... Krists... es pats tur neesmu vainīgs!” ― “I have such a stupid name,” he confessed; “I am... Krists... I am not responsible for that (name)!”

indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of stulbs

	masculine (vīriešu dzimte)		feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	stulbs	stulbi	stulba	stulbas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	stulbu	stulbus	stulbu	stulbas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	stulba	stulbu	stulbas	stulbu
dative (datīvs)	stulbam	stulbiem	stulbai	stulbām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	stulbu	stulbiem	stulbu	stulbām
locative (lokatīvs)	stulbā	stulbos	stulbā	stulbās
vocative (vokatīvs)	—	—	—	—

^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “stulbs”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca‎^[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN