What is another word for dunces?

Pronunciation: [dˈʌnsɪz] (IPA)

There are several synonyms for the word "dunces" that can be used to describe someone who is foolish or lacking in intelligence. Some commonly used synonyms include "idiot," "simpleton," "moron," "nincompoop," "dunderhead," "blockhead," "knucklehead," "dimwit," "half-wit," "imbecile," and "dolt." Using these synonyms can add variety and colour to your writing, and they can help you avoid repetition while still conveying the same meaning. However, it is important to use these words carefully and respectfully, and to avoid using them to insult or belittle someone.

What are the hypernyms for Dunces?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

Usage examples for Dunces

But as that ignorance was combined with a fine natural insight which saw deep whenever it saw at all, it was not possible to write Mrs. Hilbery off among the dunces; on the contrary, she had a way of seeming the wisest person in the room.
"Night and Day"
Virginia Woolf
His zeal was genuine, though it expressed itself by scorn for dunces and hostility to Grub Street.
"English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century"
Leslie Stephen
Pope's contempt for the dunces meant that the lower classes were the objects of supreme contempt to the aristocratic circle, whose culture they did not share.
"English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century"
Leslie Stephen

Famous quotes with Dunces

  • Not all celebrities are dunces.
    Carroll O'Connor
  • A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits.
    Alexander Pope
  • When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
    Jonathan Swift
  • What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence -- moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how 'democracy' (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient dictatorships, and by the same methods The basic proposal of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic.' Children who are fit to proceed may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval's attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT. We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when 'I'm as good as you' has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. The few who might want to learn will be prevented who are they to overtop their fellows And anyway, the teachers -- or should I say nurses -- will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men.
    Clive Staples Lewis
  • When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in confederacy against him.
    Jonathan Swift

Related words: funny dunces, top 10 dunces, dunce hats, dunce caps, dunce

Related questions:

  • What is a dunce?
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