dolt

See also: dőlt

English

Etymology

First used as a noun in Early Modern English, from dialectal English dold (“stupid, confused”), from Middle English dold, a variant of dulled, dult (“dulled”), past participle of dullen, dollen (“to make dull, make stupid”), from dull, dul, dwal (“stupid”). More at dull.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɒlt/, IPA^(key): /dəʊlt/, /dɔʊlt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /doʊlt/
• Rhymes: -əʊlt

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

dolt (plural dolts)

1. (derogatory) A stupid person; a blockhead or dullard.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 337:

     O Gull, oh dolt, / As ignorant as durt: […]

   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene xii], page 361:

     Moſt Monſter-like, be ſhewne / For poor'ſt Diminutiues, for Dolts, […]

   • 1627, Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “Nimphidia. The Court of Fayrie.”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for VVilliam Lee, […], published 1631, →OCLC:

     This Puck seemes but a dreaming dolt.

Derived terms

• doltery
• doltish

Translations

a stupid person; a blockhead or dullard

• Armenian: տխմար (hy) (txmar)
• Bulgarian: глупак (bg) m (glupak), тъпак (bg) (tǎpak)
• Catalan: estaferm m, estúpid (ca) m, imbècil (ca) m
• Czech: blb (cs) m, hňup (cs) m, pitomec (cs) m
• Faroese: býttlingur m, dylhøvd n
• Finnish: tollo (fi), tomppeli (fi), typerys (fi), pölkkypää (fi)
• French: imbécile (fr)
• German: Blödmann (de) m, Tölpel (de) m, Trottel (de) m, Dummkopf (de) m, Tölpel (de) m, Depp (de) m
• Hungarian: tökfilkó (hu), tökfej (hu)
• Irish: amhlán m
• Italian: imbecille (it) m
• Latin: gurdus m, blennus m, fungus m
• Plautdietsch: Laups m
• Polish: głupek (pl) m, bęcwał (pl) m
• Portuguese: imbecil (pt) m
• Russian: болва́н (ru) m (bolván)
• Sanskrit: मूढ (sa) m (mūḍha)
• Scottish Gaelic: amadan m, burraidh m, bachall m
• Spanish: estúpido (es)

Verb

dolt (third-person singular simple present dolts, present participle dolting, simple past and past participle dolted)

1. (obsolete) To behave foolishly.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “dolt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• told

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔlt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlt

Verb

dolt

1. inflection of dollen:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. (archaic) plural imperative

Manx

Verb

dolt (verbal noun doltey, past participle doltit)

1. to adopt, foster, initiate

Synonyms

• (to foster): doltaghey

Swedish

Adjective

dolt

1. indefinite neuter singular of dold

Verb

dolt

1. supine of dölja