dunce

Everyday

1. (old-fashioned, unkind) A person who is slow to learn or thought to be stupid, especially a pupil. tree →
2. In «dunce's cap» (dunce cap): a tall paper cone hat that pupils in old schools were made to wear as a punishment. tree →

In the lessons

In old school stories a pupil who got answers wrong was made to sit in the corner in a dunce's cap. Today this is seen as cruel; everyone learns at a different speed, and calling someone a dunce is unkind. Fun fact: the word comes from John Duns Scotus, a clever medieval thinker whose followers were later mocked as «Dunsmen».

Examples

• In the old school, the dunce had to sit in the corner. tree →
• The teacher made him wear a dunce's cap. tree →
• Calling someone a dunce is unkind. tree →
• Toad acted like a dunce, but he thought he was clever. tree →
• «I'm such a dunce at maths!» she laughed – but she was wrong. tree →
• Today no teacher uses a dunce's cap. tree →
• Once upon a time there lived an old couple who had three sons; the two elder were clever, but the third was a regular dunce. tree →

Note

Countable. An insult; avoid using it about people. Rhymes with «once».