N. want of -intelligence, want of - intellect, shadowness, silliness, foolishness, imbecility, incapacity, vacancy of mind, poverty of intellect, weakness of intellect, clouded perception, poor head, apartments to let, stupidity, stolidity, hebetude, dull understanding, meanest capacity, shortsightedness, incompetence, one's weak side, not one's strong point, bias, infatuation, simplicity, puerility, babyhood, dotage, anility, second childishness, fatuity, idiocy, idiotism, driveling, folly, frivolity, irrationality, trifling, ineptitude, nugacity, inconsistency, lip wisdom, conceit, sophistry, giddiness, eccentricity, extravagance, rashness, act of folly, b, be - imbecile, have no -brains, have no sense, trifle, drivel, radoter, dote, ramble, play the fool, play the monkey, monkey around, fool around, take leave of one's senses (insanity) 503, not see an inch beyond one's nose, stultify oneself, talk nonsense

Adj. unintelligent, unintellectual, unreasoning, mindless, witless, reasoningless, brainless, halfbaked, having no head, not -bright, inapprehensible, weak headed, addle headed, puzzle headed, blunder headed, muddle headed, muddy headed, pig headed, beetle headed, buffle headed, chuckle headed, mutton headed, maggoty headed, grossheaded, beef headed, fat witted, fat-headed, weak-minded, feeble-minded, dull minded, shallow minded, lack-brained, rattle-brained, rattle headed, half witted, lean witted, short witted, dull witted, blunt-witted, shallow-pated, clod-pated, addle- pated, dim-sighted, short-sighted, thick-skulled, weak in the upper story, shallow, borne, weak, wanting, soft, sappy, spoony, dull, dull as a beetle, stupid, heavy, insulse, obtuse, blunt, stolid, doltish, asinine, inapt, prosaic, hebetudinous, childish, child-like, infantine, infantile, babyish, babish, puerile, anile, simple, old-womanish, fatuous, idiotic, imbecile, driveling, blatant, babbling, vacant, sottish, bewildered, blockish, unteachable boeotian, boeotic, bovine, ungifted, undiscerning, unenlightened, unwise, unphilosophical, apish, simious, foolish, silly, senseless, irrational, insensate, nonsensical, inept, maudlin, narrow-minded, bigoted, giddy, rash, eccentric, foolish, unwise, injudicious, improper, unreasonable, without reason, ridiculous, absurd, idiotic, silly, stupid, asinine, ill-imagined, ill-advised, ill-judged, ill-devised, mal entendu, inconsistent, irrational, unphilosophical, extravagant, sleeveless, idle, pointless, useless, inexpedient, frivolous

Phr. davus sum non, "a fool's bolt is soon shot" clitellae bovi sunt impositae, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread", il n' a ni bouche ni eperon, "the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read", "to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound"

N. unskillfulness, want of skill, incompetence, incompentency, inability, infelicity, indexterity, inexperience, disqualification, unproficiency, quackery, folly, stupidity, indiscretion, thoughtlessness (neglect) 460, sabotage, mismanagement, misconduct, impolicy, maladministration, misrule, misgovernment, misapplication, misdirection, misfeasance, petticoat government, absence of rule, rule of thumb, bungling, failure, screw loose, too many cooks, blunder, etourderie gaucherie, act of folly, balourdise, botch, botchery, bad job, sad work, sprat sent out to catch a whale, much ado about nothing, wild-goose chase, bungler, fool

V. be unskillful, not see an inch beyond one's nose, blunder, bungle, boggle, fumble, botch, bitch, flounder, stumble, trip, hobble, put one's foot in it, make a mess of, make hash of, make sad work of, overshoot the mark, play tricks with, play puck, mismanage, misconduct, misdirect, misapply, missend, stultify oneself, make a fool of oneself, commit oneself, act foolishly, play the fool, put oneself out of court, lose control, lose control of oneself, lose one's head, lose one's cunning, begin at the wrong end, do things by halves, make two bites of a cherry, play at cross purposes, strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, put the cart before the horse, lock the stable door when the horse is stolen, not know what one is about, not know one's own interest, not know on which side one's bread is buttered, stand in one's own light, quarrel with one's bread and butter, throw a stone in one's own garden, kill the goose which lays the golden eggs, pay dear for one's whistle, cut one's own throat, bum one's fingers, knock one's head against a stone wall, beat one's head against a stone wall, fall into a trap, catch a tartar, bring the house about one's ears, have too many eggs in one basket (imprudent) 863, have too many irons in the fire, mistake, take the shadow for the substance, bark up the wrong tree, be in the wrong box, aim at a pigeon and kill a crow, take the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear, get the dirty end of the stick, put the saddle on the wrong horse, put a square peg into a round hole, put new wine into old bottles, cut blocks with a razor, hold a farthing candle to the sun, fight with a shadow, grasp at a shadow, catch at straws, lean on a broken reed, reckon without one's host, pursue a wild goose chase, go on a fool's goose chase, sleeveless errand, go further and fare worse, lose one's way, miss one's way, fail

Adj. unskillful, inexpert, bungling, awkward, clumsy, unhandy, lubberly, gauche, maladroit, left-handed, heavy-handed, slovenly, slatternly, gawky, adrift, at fault, inapt, unapt, inhabile, untractable, unteachable, giddy, inconsiderate, stupid, inactive, incompetent, unqualified, disqualified, ill-qualified, unfit, quackish, raw, green, inexperienced, rusty, out of practice, unaccustomed, unused, untrained, uninitiated, unconversant, shiftless, unstatesmanlike, unadvised, ill-advised, misadvised, ill-devised, ill-imagined, ill- judged, ill-contrived, ill-conducted, unguided, misguided, misconducted, foolish, wild, infelicitous, penny wise and pound foolish

Phr. one's fingers being all thumbs, the right hand forgets its cunning, il se noyerait dans une goutte d'eau, incidit in scyllam qui vult vitare charybdim, out of the frying pan into the fire, non omnia possumus omnes

N. dullness, heaviness, flatness, infestivity #, stupidity, want of originality, dearth of ideas, prose, matter of fact, heavy book, conte a dormir debout, platitude

V. be dull, prose, take au serieux, be caught napping, render dull, damp, depress, throw cold water on, lay a wet blanket on, fall flat upon the ear, no joke, serious matter (importance) 642

Adj. dull, dull as ditch water, unentertaining, uninteresting, flat, dry as dust, unfunny, unlively, logy, unimaginative, insulse, dry as dust, prosy, prosing, prosaic, matter of fact, commonplace, pedestrian, pointless, "weary stale flat and unprofitable", stupid, slow, flat, insipid, vapid, humdrum, monotonous, melancholic, stolid, plodding, boring, tiresome, tedious

Phr. davus sum non aedipus, deadly dull and boring, ddb